The Boy In The Other Room
by SandyLane
Summary: While trying to fix their friendship, a case of mistaken identity causes Kara to realize that what she feels for Lena is more than deep friendship and it crosses into non-platonic and very definitely romantic territory.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:**

\- Lena knows about Kara's identity.

\- In my world, the DEO isn't a secret organization after Myriad.

\- I'm sticking with the idea of Lena having two assistants.

\- I'm also incorporating ideas from the comics and the DC animated movies about Project Cadmus in that it wasn't just some crazy organization Lillian created to get rid of aliens. (keep in mind that in s1 they showed the US military working together with Cadmus when they were shipping J'onn & Alex as prisoners to something they referred to as "Project Cadmus". Too bad they forgot that in s2).

\- My background for Superman/Clark and Lex is a combination of content from the comics and the DCEU (meaning the movies) with some major changes to suit my story.

 **Disclaimer:** not mine, never will be mine. All recognizable characters belong to their IP owners. No copyright infringement is intended. I'm only borrowing them for some harmless fun.

* * *

Chapter One.

Lena's alarm goes off for what has become her usual five a.m. wake up call. Her body is so used to it now that she no longer has to hit snooze a dozen times. Within minutes she is dressed in running tights, sports bra with a loose fitting tank top and her trusty pair of running shoes. She quickly puts her hair in a ponytail and grabs the arm band for her phone and checks to make sure her running watch/fitness tracker is charged and ready. She then heads to her kitchen and gets her hydration belt ready. She can't wait until it's cooler so she won't have to carry the extra weight in the form of water (well, at least not as much). At least it's early enough that she won't have to drown herself in sunscreen while she's out for what has now become her morning run around the park by her penthouse.

On the advice of her therapist after the Daxamite invasion, the mess with Rhea and as a way to help her manage her stress, Lena had started to take early morning walks. The walks eventually morphed into runs, which she switched to every other day, but still walking on her "off" days. She also added tai chi and yoga routines in order to avoid injury and to help her learn the arts of meditation and relaxation. Thankfully the tai chi and the yoga are something she can do following a set of DVDs and books instead of a class surrounded by strangers. She has to admit though, that ever since she started, she has slept better and she is not as quick to lose her temper when things don't go smoothly at work (which is to say, most days). And if she does lose her temper, she has discovered that she can calm down and refocus her attention a lot faster than before, resulting in better productivity overall. She hopes that this newfound Zen will help her identify situations where it may lead to avoiding powerful women taking advantage of her in her subconscious need for a good maternal figure.

Lena takes a look at her collection of energy gels and chooses the less vile of the flavours she has. Perhaps her next project should be developing an energy gel that doesn't taste like flavoured glue mixed with sand. She winces at the texture and taste and quickly washes it down with a glass of water. Yup, that should definitely be her next project. Athletes around the world would thank her if LCorp could develop fuel that will give them a quick boost of energy and electrolytes and not taste awful in the process. When everything is set, she heads to the door and grabs her keys. For a split second, she debates whether or not to grab the pair of earbuds beside the keys bowl. Her self-preservation instincts win, and she sighs as she steps out the door and locks it. She hates that she can't run while losing herself to her favourite playlist, but the last attempt on her life as she was leaving LCorp, has ensured that she will never walk around and not pay close attention to her surroundings. She pushes asides the dark thoughts swimming in her head. The whole point of these early morning runs is to help her relax. She's not supposed to spend the time brooding.

Lena presses her palm into the biometric reader for the elevator and shakes her head. How many people can say their home has such high end security? Once Lena reaches the main lobby of her building, the doorman and the two security guards by the main entrance nod in her direction. She wonders if she should vary her routine because there is no telling how easily some people may be bribed. She lets out a sigh and wonders if she'll forever be this paranoid and second guess just about everyone she meets. She then turns on the blinking LEDs she has clipped on the back of her hydration belt and fixes the reflective armband for her phone so it doesn't sit in that awkward angle. With one last look around the lobby and to the outside, she heads out into the early National City morning looking like a lit Christmas tree.

Lena walks to the corner and waits for the light to change and then walks into the park that has become one of her favourite places in the city. If for whatever reason there may be an attempt for her life, at least she now knows the park's layout like the back of her hand. She has mapped every route and path here so she can alter her course depending on what distance she wants to cover. The added bonus is that she should be able to easily slip past anyone following her. Once she is in the park itself, she picks up her pace. A quick look at her watch/fitness tracker for the time and she decides today, she'll do the four mile loop at an eight minute mile pace. As usual, within a few minutes in, her mind clears and she allows herself to lose herself to her surroundings.

Lena is winding down and starting her cool down routine in the grass off the path, when out of the corner of her eyes she notices something tucked under a few bushes. She is glad that it is now so close to sunrise that there is enough natural light for her see clearly. She stops her stretches and walks over to whatever that thing is. She is shocked to find a duct taped shoe box shoved under some bushes.

At first, Lena jumps back, thinking the worst. Her first thought is that someone has finally figured out that the billionaire CEO and only legal heir of the Luthor fortune likes to run in the early mornings. With so many paparazzi hounding her lately, she's actually surprised it's taken this long for someone to realize her new early morning routine. She then wonders which one of the people in her building sold her out. But even if someone had done that, it'd be a lot quicker, more effective, and less messy to just put a bullet in her head. Besides, even if the hired goons preferred the more dramatic and messier way of disposing of her, how in the world would they even know which route she would choose or at what pace she would run at? It's not as if it's ever planned. She usually makes her decision as she is walking to the park, using that little warm up as a way to gauge how she is feeling and how much she can or wants to push herself. Even on the days she's only walking, there is no way of telling which route she'll take or how fast she'll walk. The really paranoid part of her thinks that maybe there are similar boxes hidden and scattered around all the different pathways in the park. In a near panic, she is about to call out to Kara when she remembers things have been awkward between them ever since the Daxamite invasion. Instead, she pulls out her phone and is set to dial 911 when she hears a sound coming from the box. She is so startled, she nearly drops her phone. For a moment, Lena thinks she imagined the noise, but then she hears it again. It's some odd, muffled scratching. 'Definitely not a bomb then.' She thinks to herself. Besides, in her opinion, any competent bomb maker wouldn't make a device that would make any noise. Beeping or ticking would just alert people. To this day, Lena has never understood why so many movies and TV shows do that. Anyone with half a working brain would stay away from such a package in the first place.

The little bit of logic seems to make Lena rethink her paranoia. Depending on the distance of the route and the pace she chooses, Lena could be running or walking anywhere from thirty minutes all the way up to an hour. So randomly placing explosives seems like a total waste and unless someone is regularly watching her, there is no way of knowing when to remotely detonate a bomb. Anything on a timer that detonates before or after she's in range and at least half, if not the entire park would be closed for the proper authorities to investigate, even if no one were hurt. Against her better judgement and her usually sharp-survival instincts, Lena gives in to her curiosity (it has served her well as an engineer). She sits down cross-legged on the grass and gingerly picks up the box. The movement makes the noises inside the box louder before the weight shifts inside. Lena is so surprised she loses her grip and the box flops gracelessly on her lap. With the box's centre of gravity shifting on its own, Lena is even more curious. She puts the box down and fumbles with the multi-tool she has hidden inside her hydration pack. She quickly cuts through the tape and is stunned to find a kitten with mostly black fur inside it. She laughs when she notices that the kitten has a white tummy, a white face and a white streak that runs through most of its back. Her laughter dies down when she also notices the little thing is weak from what she puts down to lack of oxygen, poor nutrition and thirst.

Lena immediately calls her driver and makes her way to the closest exit of the park. She wants to give the kitten some water, but part of her knows she shouldn't move it. As she waits for her driver, Lena makes a quick search for animal shelters in National City and of course, they're all closed and none of them have emergency drop-offs. She makes a mental note to increase the donations to them so maybe they can have enough staff around to provide the city with emergency pet drop-offs. Considering the time, all regular vets aren't open yet, so she googles the closest emergency veterinary clinics to the park. When her driver gets there, she ignores the looks the woman gives her and quickly rattles off the address to her before putting up the privacy screen. As they drive there, Lena instinctively caresses the kitten.

"Are you a boy or a girl? And how in the world did you end up with such unique colouring?" Lena asks the kitten. She knows it's a dire situation because as time passes, the kitten moves less and less. The added oxygen after the lid was removed should have help the kitten perk up. Instead, the opposite happens. It gets to the point where she can barely make out the rise and fall that indicates the little thing is still breathing.

"I don't know what kind of monster would do that to you. All they had to do was drop you off to one of the local shelters. Besides, how could anyone not want to keep such a little cutie." Lena says softly. She hopes that the talking will help calm the kitten and at the same time, keep it awake. Maybe it's similar to humans and the longer she can keep the little thing awake, the better its chances will be. She continues to rattle off nonsense. At some point, she starts to talk about some of the things she is working on at LCorp. More than once, she looks at her watch to see how long it's been since they got in the car.

The eternity it seems to take to get to their destination is finally over. Lena doesn't wait for her driver to open the door. The moment the car stops, she lowers the privacy screen enough to tell her driver to wait before she is out of the car, and as fast as she can safely move with her cargo, she is through the main entrance. She makes a beeline to the receptionist.

"I found this kitten inside this box and it was taped shut. I don't know how long it's been there. I heard it move while it was still sealed, but the little thing hasn't been moving much since the car ride over. In fact, the kitten seems to be doing worse as time passes." Lena says as she gently puts the box on top of the counter.

The receptionist takes one look and presses the intercom to call out a veterinary technician. The new arrival immediately asks Lena what happened and once again, the CEO tells them all she knows. She is about to follow the tech into what she thinks is the examination room when she is stopped by the receptionist.

"I know you're trying to help, but they're going to treat the kitten in the back area where it's staff only. The treatment rooms are for referrals for pets that need to see a specialist who need an assessment. They're not for emergency cases like this one." The receptionist, a man named Joe (according to the name tag he's wearing) tells her.

Lena is about to protest but she knows the man is right. It's not as if she knows any of the kitten's history, and she isn't its owner either. After a slight pause, she falls into what Kara (even with them barely spending time together, she still can't get the honey blonde out of her mind or that she still thinks of Kara as her only true friend in National City) calls her business mode so she won't go crazy wondering what is going on behind closed doors.

"I want the best care for the kitten. Money is of no object. If you need to set up an account to make things easier, go right ahead. Just make sure the kitten is taken care of." Lena says in a no nonsense tone. When she has Joe's full attention, she gives him her personal information.

Lena doesn't know whether to laugh or cry when she sees Joe's grimace at her name. At least he didn't recognize her by sight alone. Thankfully, that's where it stops and the man is all business.

"Uh, Miss Luthor, were you thinking of adopting this kitten or would you want one of us to drop it off at one of the local shelters once we're done treating it?" Joe asks. "If you're not keeping it, there is no point in opening any kind of account, since there won't be a need to forward any relevant information to your regular vet. Also, thank you for sticking around. Not many would want to get stuck with the bill for the emergency care of an animal that wasn't theirs." He adds.

Lena does a double take at that. She wasn't expecting a compliment at all. Now that the adrenaline high is wearing off, she stops for a moment to think. Adoption never really crossed her mind. She remembers in one of the few semi-normal conversations they've had post-Daxamite invasion, Kara telling her how she talked Snapper into letting her write a series of articles aimed to promote all the animal shelters within National City, especially the regular ones, in the hopes of spurring a pet adoption spree. It had broken Kara's heart to learn that all shelters were at capacity, due to the unusually wet spring in National City. At least their part of California wasn't going through another drought. But the outcome was a higher than usual water level in all bodies of water surrounding and within the city, causing many floods, resulting in many homeowners not being able to care for their pets while being relocated as they waited for water levels to subside. Many pet owners had lost everything due to water damage and instead of just abandoning their pets; they did the right thing and surrendered them to the proper shelters. To many, while heartbreaking because they were losing a beloved member of their family, it also meant a second chance for said family member.

According to Kara's series, all animal shelters, humane society locations and SPCA centres were overflowing with unwanted pets of all kinds. There is no real way of knowing what kind of shelter the kitten would end up in. And if it's a regular one, the extra addition might just mean a death sentence to one of the older animals. That is something Lena finds unacceptable. If the staff here manages to take it to one of the no-kill shelters, then who knows how long the older pets would have to wait for a home because she knows people prefer kittens and puppies. In the same series, Kara highlighted how some of the older pets couldn't really handle the uncertainty of shelter living, taking a psychological toll on them. The idea of extending that kind of life to them is not a trade off she can live with. What's more, the thought of the little furball being just another one waiting for a new home for an undetermined amount of time, or being in a home with strangers leaves an unpleasant feeling in her heart.

Growing up, Lena never truly considered a pet as a viable option. It wasn't for lack of wanting, but more due to her circumstances. She liked the idea of a pet because she thought it would make Luthor Manor less lonely while Lex was away in college and her father was at work. While Lionel would have eventually given in, after he passed away and Lena was shuttled over to boarding school, the idea of pets was out of the question. Even if Lena wasn't away for school, Lillian would have never agreed. Once she was in college, all she wanted to do was to graduate early and leave Luthor Manor permanently as soon as possible. The place was no longer home. The moment she graduated with not only an undergrad but two masters, a PhD and an MBA, she packed her bags and set out to leave her mark in the world in the form a small start up with her best friend and eventual lover Jack Spheer. Her plan was to work away with minimum funds and wait until she turned twenty-five to gain full access to her trust fund and then expand slowly. That of course went sideways when Lex had been arrested, tried and then sentenced to multiple life sentences without the chance of parole to be carried out consecutively instead of concurrently. Because of a clause from Lionel's will, with the exception of a small percentage that went to Lillian, Lena became the only heir of the Luthor fortune.

Along with suddenly becoming the sole heir of the Luthor fortune came the mandate to take over and become the new CEO (and not just an acting one until a permanent one could be found) of LuthorCorp. Many legitimate investors were pulling out and distancing themselves as much as they could after word got out about Lex's obsession with Superman and his anti-alien sentiments were made public. Once Lex was arrested and a trial date was set, things were starting to look dire for LuthorCorp, with their stocks dipping significantly. After his conviction and sentencing, stock prices plummeted. No one reputable wanted the job as CEO, forcing the Board of Directors to reach out to Lena. Everyone knew that had Lionel not died so suddenly, he would have had Lena take over eventually. Everyone knew that since Lena was adopted, he was slowly grooming her to take over. No one dared mention how odd it was that Lionel Luthor never hid the fact he preferred Lena over his biological son (oh, if only they knew the truth). The fact that out of his two children, Lena was the only one whom Lionel willingly took to work and was patient enough to explain what he was doing and why never escaped anyone's notice. Neither did the fact that from an early age, it was very obvious that Lena was even more intelligent than her brother. There were rumours around that Lena's intelligence was the reason for the obvious favouritism and the reason why the man openly criticized and was so hard on his only son. Lionel's original path only changed after he had suddenly died of a massive heart attack. With Lena still underage and Lex working on his post-graduate degree, their mother Lillian had replaced Lionel as the new Chairperson of the Board of Directors while acting as interim CEO until Lex could take over. That worked for a while, and the company flourished even more (made more money) under Lex's turn as CEO. That started to change once Superman was known to the world, and it was too late when everyone realized everything Lex was willing to do in order to stop the alien threat. Once Lex had been convicted, the board had voted against Lillian becoming CEO again because the woman, while very intelligent and very accomplished as a doctor, didn't have a shred of business sense. Lena had only accepted her new position because she couldn't bear Lionel's hard work go down the drain due to the machinations of Lillian and Lex. While her father was a ruthless and greedy businessman, he wasn't evil nor did he have a hidden xenophobic agenda.

While Lena's working days usually are as hectic as can be, after hours things are completely different. Even before the mess with Lex her social calendar was about as exciting as watching paint dry. And truth be told, ever since her rift with Kara, she can't help the feel of loneliness that creeps up when she isn't working or forced to attend some work related function. Most people are still wary around her, no matter what she has done to make amends for things her brother and adoptive mother have done, so she never pushes her presence on others. She feels guilty enough without their glares or worse yet, their secret looks of disapproval when they think she's just like them. It doesn't help her sense of guilt that she indirectly helped the invasion that destroyed most of the city, even if most of the world doesn't know that little fact. Even with LCorp footing most of the bills for National City's reconstruction (causing many to think LCorp is trying to buy the world's favour to improve its image), it never feels as if it's enough. She wonders what would happen if people were to find out her role in that failed invasion, or that she isn't just a Luthor through adoption, but a Luthor by blood. Lena curses the fact that during their friendship, she has gotten used to spending her free time with someone. Not even when she was with Jack, had Lena ever felt lonely when they forced themselves to stop working and go home. In fact, back then, she was content with the time alone and at times even craved it. Ever since their current situation, as far as Kara's friends are concerned, she's back to being persona non grata in their eyes; going as far as telling Kara they were right about Lena all along. So the idea of a pet is actually a welcome one. Having the little furball around would make her evenings at home less lonely. Perhaps with a pet around, she can learn to enjoy her solitude again without resorting to work in order to keep her mind from brooding too much. And most important, a pet would never betray or judge her.

"I'll be adopting the kitten." Lena eventually says. She ignores the smile on Joe's face.

"Do you have any idea what is going on in there? Or how long he'll have to stay here for?" Lena asks. "Now that I'm adopting the kitten, I should be able to get information about treatment and a prognosis." She adds.

"I'm going to inform the doctor of the change while I get an update." Joe says as he heads over to door leading to where the kitten is being treated.

While she is waiting, Lena looks at the time. She has just enough time to go home and get ready for work. This is the first time in nearly a year since she has taken over as CEO that she is dreading going to work. While things aren't perfect, at least LCorp stocks have been holding steady and haven't dipped much since the rebranding; not even after the clusterfuck with Rhea. Though she wonders if that will change if word gets out just how involved Lena herself was with the entire thing (even if she was duped and totally unwilling after she found out). She looks at the empty reception area and the still closed door leading to the treatment area and makes up her mind. There is no way she'll be able to concentrate on work even if she were to know her still unnamed pet's prognosis. She pulls out her schedule to confirm there are not pressing meetings. She is supposed to be catching up on mind numbing paperwork as she has insisted on doing an internal audit of all of LCorp's activities, holdings and finances over the last fifteen years (the time it was still known as LuthorCorp, and it was under Lillian's and then Lex's control). She doesn't want any more surprises in the form of obscure shell corporations under LCorp's control being used by Cadmus. All she has to do is pick up the necessary folders while she is out getting supplies for her new housemate and work from home. She quickly fires a text for Jess informing her that she is taking the next three days off. That, along with the weekend should give her and the kitten some uninterrupted bonding time. The only downside is that she'll have to give up on any chance to work on her personal projects. She isn't even surprised when her phone buzzes with an incoming call seconds after the text is sent. She knew Jess wouldn't just clear her days without some form of explanation.

"Good morning, Jess." Lena says the moment she connects the call.

"Miss Luthor, is everything all right? Do I need to make an appointment with your personal physician?" Jess asks without preambles. Her mind is swimming with the possibilities of why her boss for the first time since taking over the company is taking any time off. Even when she was recovering from that concussion after being kidnapped by Lillian Luthor, her boss still showed up to the office to work the very next day. Hell, the only times Miss Luthor had missed work were when she was testifying against her mother and the time she was in jail when again, through interference from her mother, Miss Luthor had been framed for helping that Metallo freak (and helping her mother) escape. And unlike her mother or brother, Miss Luthor still showed up even if their National City headquarters was the epicentre of the Daxamite invasion, instead of hiding out from danger. Her boss's reason had been that she had to do everything in her power to stop it since they only have Earth to call home and there was no way Miss Luthor was going to let anyone take over their home. So in Jess's opinion, only a serious illness or accident would keep her boss from the office.

"Yes, everything is fine. I'm just taking a few personal days. Thank you for your concern." Lena says, knowing that is enough of an explanation. She has always been notoriously private about her life outside of work. "I hate to do this to you, even though I won't be there, I still need you to show up and make sure things run smoothly. Have Hector take care of messages. If everything in the next few days isn't crazy, you may leave early and forward the calls to your work phone and not Hector's." Lena says.

"Of course Miss Luthor. Is there anything—" Jess starts to say before she is interrupted.

"I need to go Jess. Unless it's an emergency, I don't want to be disturbed. Have a good weekend and I'll see you Monday." Lena says, quickly ending the call when she sees the door to the treatment area open. The first person out is a woman Lena assumes is the veterinarian, judging by the standard white lab coat she is wearing.

Lena puts her phone away, and is a bit wary when she sees the vet followed only by the receptionist. She frowns when she notices the tech is nowhere in sight with what is now her cat. "Is the kitten all right?" She asks worried.

"Good morning. I'm Doctor Devon Barrett. Nice to meet you." The vet says with a gentle smile.

"I apologize for my lack of manners. Good morning and likewise, Dr. Barrett. Lena Luthor." Lena says as she extends her right hand.

They shake hands and if the vet is surprised by her identity, she doesn't show it. Lena is pleased when she doesn't see the usual judgment apparent on most people upon a first meeting with someone named Luthor.

"Yes. The little guy is lucky you found him when you did. There is really no way of knowing how long he was in that box, but I suspect any longer and with the combination of the summer heat the lack of food and water and the very low levels of oxygen, he wouldn't have made it past two days at most." Dr. Barrett says.

"So it's a boy and he'll be okay?" Lena asks.

"The kitten is dehydrated and undernourished. His lethargy is mostly due to hunger. As a precaution, we're going to put him on some IV fluids to rehydrate him for the next hour or so. We'll then feed him some high calorie and high protein food to help him get back on his feet. We're also going to give him his first series of shots. I ran a full examination on him and with a little TLC and proper care; he should make a full recovery. Joe here tells me you're planning on adopting him?" Dr. Barrett says.

"I am, though I admit I'm very new at this. If you and your staff can recommend a local veterinarian for the remaining shots and future check-ups, and perhaps make some suggestions as to the best brand of food and whether or not I can start feeding him kitten food as opposed to having to still bottle feed him?" Lena says. "I've been giving this a lot of thought while I was waiting for an update. I even cleared my schedule for the remainder of the week so I can help little Pepé adjust to his new home." She adds, having decided on a name the moment she knew the kitten was going home with her.

"Pepé?" Dr. Barrett asks amused.

"With such unusual colouring, I already had a couple of names picked out, depending on whether or not the kitten was a boy or girl. Since it's a boy, Pepé Le Pew it is." Lena admits sheepishly, blushing so deeply that if she were in a cartoon, she'd be the colour of a fire engine.

"And if it had been a girl?" Dr. Barrett asks curious.

"Why, Penelope Pussycat of course." Lena replies with a huge grin. "I'm impressed. Not many people in this day and age know the reference." She adds when she sees Dr. Barrett chuckle at the name choices.

"I was going to say the same. Anyway we estimate Pepé to be around 3 months or so..." Dr. Barrett replies, offering Lena advice on how to handle and care for the kitten. "I'll have Joe print out a list of veterinary clinics that we are partnered with and we trust. Once you pick one, you can give them our information and we'll e-mail all relevant files on the little guy once they contact us. I'll also have Joe print out the URLs to a few reputable sites you can look for extra information to help you train Pepé how to use the litter box and how to divert his attention to scratching poles and how to trim his nails. If the nail trimming seems to be a bit of daunting task, you can always ask the staff here or at your regular vet to show you how. Then of course, there is always the option of having a reputable cat groomer do it." The vet adds.

"Thank you so much, Dr. Barrett." Lena replies, already knowing that along with all that information, she'll stop by a bookstore and pick out a few books on how to care for kittens. "How long do I have until Pepé is ready to be discharged? I want to know if I have time to get his supplies ready before taking him home." she adds.

"He should be ready in about an hour or two, but there is no hurry. We're after all, open twenty-four hours so take your time. Joe will have everything ready when you come back later. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate at all to call us." Dr. Barrett says with a kind smile. "What you're doing is great. That's one more life you have saved." She adds.

Lena nods and turns to leave. Since her father died and Lex went crazy, she isn't used to praise from anyone other than from Kara. It's very surprising the vet said "one more life" as opposed "a life". Maybe this is a sign that things may be looking up for her and her company. Perhaps people may start to believe that LCorp and Lena herself aren't the evil entities everyone thought them to be.

Her driver Emily jumps out of the car and opens the door to the back the moment Lena steps out of the clinic.

"Emily, take me home and wait for me downstairs please." Lena says before she gets inside and once again, puts the privacy screen all the way up. She uses the time to go through her e-mails. She smiles when she notices Jess has already sorted out the non-essential ones and marked the ones that require her attention.

* * *

Once she is home, Lena doesn't bother to shower. All she does is change out of her running tights and into a pair of yoga pants. Then she pulls a t-shirt over and ties a hoodie around her waist. She quickly googles the best pet supply stores in National City while she hastily eats a yogurt and a protein bar, and settles for one that is known to donate regularly to and works with local animal shelters and SPCA by having pet adoption days every weekend. She bookmarks the website before she shoves the tablet into a messenger bag along with her wallet. She fills her stainless steel water bottle and once again, she is out the door.

"Emily, take me to City Pets on Lexington and tenth." Lena says as she climbs into the back of her car.

The run for Pepé's supplies and the books Lena needs and wants go by smoothly. In less than an hour everything is done and she is on her way to her office to pick up the paperwork she will be drowning herself in at home. After a death glare or two when security doesn't recognize her, she ignores the double takes and jaw drops once her identity has been established. She rolls her eyes as she steps into the single elevator that has access to her the top floor where her office is. This is part of the new security measure of the new and improved LCorp headquarters. The logic being that a single elevator eliminates the chance of multiple access points to her once she is in her office. She does her best to hold back her laughter at the looks on Hector's face when she steps out of the elevator. She isn't disappointed when she gets a similar reaction from Jess once she steps into the area just before the double doors to her new office. Even on Casual Fridays once a month, Lena has always looked like she could grace the cover of any major fashion and/or business magazine (though secretly, she wishes she could just show up in her favourite PJs, or her usual lounging outfits of yoga pants/tights and t-shirts/hoodies).

"Miss Luthor. I thought you weren't coming in today?" Jess asks as she scrambles to get up.

"Don't get up Jess. I'm not staying. I'm only here to pick up some files I'll need while I'm away." Lena says as she approaches the double doors to her office. She stands by the retina scanner while she places her left (non-dominant) hand on the scanner before the doors' locks release and a panel hisses open to reveal a keyhole for another set of deadbolts for which only Lena has the key for.

Once inside, Lena closes and locks the double doors from the inside. She takes out a pen-like device and uses it quickly to make sure there are no hidden bugs in her office. She wouldn't put it past the DEO or other US agencies to continue to try and spy on her. After she caught someone (Winn) trying to hack LCorp's servers during the Medusa fiasco she had written the code for a new digital firewall and she had also built a physical one as an extra precaution. Thankfully, the DEO never realized Lena keeps a separate, stand-alone, offline and very heavily encrypted (she wrote the encryption key herself) server for her private projects or that the more sensitive information is stored only in hardcopy to cut down on the chances of cyber attacks. Once she is satisfied there are no bugs of any kind, she hits a button that turns the windows in her office opaque for anyone looking in while staying crystal clear inside. When she is satisfied no can see in, she walks over to a door that is hidden well enough to nearly disappear into the wall. She opens it to the small apartment with a bedroom and bathroom she normally uses on those days she works a little too late to bother going home. The logic being that it's pointless to have her driver take her home only to have to return a few hours later. She once again pulls out the pen-like device. When she is sure nothing can see in or listen, she walks over to a small glass cabinet holding a couple of chessboards. She bends over to the bottom one and moves a few pieces in a specific pattern in order to expose a keypad. She enters the code that reveals the biometric scanner on the wall beside the cabinet. It scans both her retinas and her left palm simultaneously.

A door hisses open to reveal Lena's personal lab. The only downside is that the new mini-apartment is significantly smaller. Other than the architect and the contractors she handpicked, no other living soul knows about it. Thankfully, they think it's just a safe room (that was what she had told them the room was going to be used for. She had to customize everything herself in her in her 'downtime') the rich and powerful have. With as many public attempts on her life, it's not that odd for someone like Lena to want a safe room built. She is not happy that there are people who know of this secret room, but at least using preppers as the personal team in charge of her new office had meant they are paranoid enough to keep her "safe room" a secret without needing to have her legal team draw up a series of creative NDAs without having to let anyone else in on the extra space. She doubts the DEO or any other American government agency would just take her world for the use of that secret room as her safe room only.

Lena goes inside her lab, makes sure everything is closed and locked before she makes a beeline for the walk-in safe holding not only the files she has been auditing but the schematics, materials and prototypes on her personal projects. After careful consideration, she picks out enough to hold her over the next four days at home. If she needs anything else, she can always come back. Lena hates being so paranoid, but there is no way of knowing what kind of damage can result to her company if people misused the financial trail and all the shell corporations used to hide Cadmus while LuthorCorp was under Lillian's and then Lex's control. When Lena has everything she needs she makes sure that the entrance to the lab is secured and nothing looks out of place. Hopefully, if she has somehow missed newer ways of surveillance (like those made with alien tech), they'll just think she went into her private mini-apartment to change and get ready for work. She also hopes that the modified cloaking materials and device from the Daxamite flagship will keep her lab hidden from prying eyes. When she is satisfied everything is in place and nothing looks odd, she exits her mini-apartment.

Lena then walks over to the balcony door and makes sure that the sliding doors are locked. She double checks that the new biometric scanners are in working condition. So far, the newest material used for her office's windows have been able to sustain (under testing) all known Earth-made explosives and projectiles (short of a nuclear denotation). She would love to see what Kara's heat vision or freeze breath would do to it or how much of her strength it would take to break the glass, but as of now, they're no longer in a place in their friendship for Lena to ask. Maybe once they figure out a way to fix everything she can ask Kara to try and break into her office using both the balcony and the double doors.

The only good thing that came from working with Rhea had been access to not only new and more advanced technology, but also to new materials and compounds not available before because the elements needed for them didn't exist on Earth. One of her current projects is to figure out a way to create them synthetically. No one knows she still has the schematics or the samples from Rhea. Thankfully, in her tunnel-vision and overconfidence, Rhea never revoked Lena's access to said materials and had gone as far as to teach Lena how to read Daxamite in order to expedite the reverse engineering and construction of the new transmatter portal. With luck on her side and some good karma (she's sure she's due for both), she is sure can figure out a way to merge the synthetic Daxamite materials with current materials made from naturally occurring terrestrial elements in order to produce something that not even the DEO will have access to. She is still unhappy that the DEO and the military, with the U.S. government's blessing have confiscated any all known Daxamite warships (at least they're all wreckages) after they thwarted the invasion all those months ago. At least she managed to destroy the portals before they got their hands on them. Lena doesn't think a single government should have access to so much alien technology. No one should have access to technology that will eschew power dynamics to the point that if abused, not much could be done about it, unless there were enhanced beings like Kara or Superman standing up against them. Lex and Lillian being proof of what can happen when people abuse their power. She wonders if Lex or Lillian will ever see that, or if they're so power mad and afraid of being less that all they see are 'would be' and 'could be' threats. She understands taking precautions but she'll never understand her brother and her adoptive mother's views that genocide is the only way to keep Earth safe. Lena's interest in the portals had been solely for the possibility of making the distribution of aid to developing nations a lot easier and to help the evacuation of areas after natural disasters faster and safer. Now, she wonders if there will ever be a way of doing that without the technology being abused. She can so easily see governments using that technology to invade others. She hopes she did a good job destroying them so they can't reverse engineer something similar from the wreckage.

Keeping yet another secret from everyone gives Lena new insight on what it's like for Kara, having to lie to everyone she meets because she can't afford to just spill her secret to anyone. And it's not just the "well, I'm an alien" but it now also carries the extra weight of other people's safety because of her alter ego as Supergirl. She has seen how with something as simple as Lois Lane being the reporter of choice for Superman has endangered her life. She understand all too well after Lex had figured out Superman's identity and had used it against him by threatening not just Lois Lane but Superman's mother as well. She still isn't sure why her brother (and mother, since it's very likely Lillian knows as well) never went public with Superman's identity. It had hurt that Kara didn't tell her about her true identity until much later into their friendship. She had figured out Kara was at least an alien when she found the prototype for her alien detecting device fried from the inside. The only other person who had access to it had been Kara the day she had shown her the prototype during their second meeting, and she hadn't worked on it since. After that, Lena started paying more attention and it was just a matter of time before she started to notice the physical resemblance between Kara and Supergirl. Then, it was just a matter of running Kara's and one of the many Supergirl's photos through a facial recognition software. She had also run recordings of voice samples for both through speech recognition software for confirmation. Lena had hoped that after she proved herself during the whole Medusa fiasco or the alien kidnapping fiasco that Kara would trust her enough. But it had taken Jack's death and Lena's near breakdown for Kara to finally come clean.

Lena inevitably thinks about her father's words; that no matter what, everyone has secrets. Still, she can't help but feel like a hypocrite because she had expected Kara to be completely honest while she herself still hasn't told another living soul that she isn't just a Luthor by adoption. That the name "Luthor" is her birthright. She has new understanding over the reason Kara had given her when she finally came clean. Add to that the fact that she has all this Daxamite tech and that Lena is solely responsible for banishing Kara's boyfriend, and she wonders if it's even possible to fix things with Kara. She wonders what Kara's reaction will be once the blonde finds out Lena has also been keeping secrets and if Kara will understand why these secrets are necessary. Hopefully what they went through when Kara told her about her alter ego will keep both their tempers in check and their tendency to act without thinking things through first. With one look at her watch, she tries her best to shake off the negative thoughts. She has a kitten to pick up and an apartment to cat-proof.

TBC.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes:**

\- Fair warning. I'm not very kind to the Superfriends because I hate how they treated Lena and basically shoved Kara aside because they had better things to do.

\- I'm choosing the spell What'sHisFace's name as "Monel" instead of "Mon-El" simply because the comic geek in me hates the way the show's PTB ruined the character and never explained how he ended up with the same 'family' name as Kara & Kal.

\- I actually started writing this before spoilers/info for s3 came out, so there will be no mention of Sam/Reign. I'll probably ignore everything that happens in s3 actually.

\- In my headcanon, Kara sort of blames being Supergirl for every bad thing that has happened in National City because before she was known as SG, things weren't as crazy and as complicated.

\- Flashbacks are in italics.

\- In this world, Kara wrote about LCorp's considering developing an alien-detecting device, but never wrote about a working prototype. I seriously doubt the world and the DEO/U.S. government would have just sat in the background if they knew Lena was successful in making it/having a working prototype.

\- I'm picking and choosing what I take from the canon universe and changing/modifying it to fit my story.

\- As usual, this is self-edited, so mistakes are mine and mine alone.

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

Kara sighs as she looks at the blinking cursor on her laptop. She glares at the empty document, willing herself to write something, anything. But even if she can conquer her current bout of writer's block; she still needs actual quotes, something easier said than done. It takes all her self-control not to fry her office as she gets angrier at her current situation. Otherwise, her laptop will be a pile of melted plastic and metal, followed by her desk becoming a pile of ash. That is something she knows is impossible to explain and she would just end up having to replace her work-issued laptop and desk on her own, an extra expense she definitely can do without. Her savings are still hurting after her short stint with unemployment. She also doesn't want to accidentally set off the fire sprinklers again because she can't control or redirect her anger. There is no way she can explain a second time why the sprinklers would go off in her office without anyone believing she isn't a pyromaniac of some sort. It was embarrassing enough the first time it happened because she found the new LED lights too bright and she decided to use of candles as a way to provide herself a softer source of light. With her door closed, the heat of candles had set off the sprinklers and the fire alarm. She's sure no one would have believed her if they hadn't seen the remnants of the twenty or so candles all over her desk and on top of the small filing cabinet.

It's not necessarily the inability to write a coherent sentence that has Kara so angry. It's how she ended up with this impossible assignment. For a moment, Kara wishes she had access to whatever material Lillian Luthor had used to absorb the power of her heat vision when the woman forced her to solar flare. She wonders if it's possible to toss Snapper and James in such a way that they'll orbit Earth once before belly flopping into the Pacific without getting seriously hurt as she replays what led to her current predicament.

* * *

 _Kara nearly put her knee through her desk when someone knocked on her office door as she sat there with her eyes closed. She had been brooding over the happenings of the last few months so intently she had missed the heartbeat and footsteps of the person approaching._

" _Come in." Kara called out once her heart wasn't trying to beat out of her chest._

 _Kara really wasn't in the mood to deal with whoever it was on the other side of the door. She had hoped that with the door closed, people would respect her need for a little privacy. She had thought that since she could literally count in one hand the number of times she had ever been inside her office with the door closed; people would have done their best to let her be. But it seemed the closed door was a magnet for everyone inside CatCo to suddenly want to talk to her about something "urgent". Part of her wondered if they did it on purpose to annoy her and that she should just give up on ever enjoying a little bit of privacy. After all, she had always worked in an open concept space while she was Ms. Grant's assistant so it wasn't like she didn't know what it felt like to work in what basically was a fish bowl. It had been a year since her promotion and there were still some who were resentful of the fact that Kara got to choose her new position. They resented that their interim CEO had come to Kara's defence when Snapper had tried to get rid of her soon after Ms. Grant took her sabbatical. Yet, they all chose to ignore how James had not stopped Snapper from firing her during the blog fiasco. They resented the fact that Snapper himself had begrudgingly admitted he was wrong and had acted harshly when he fired Kara. They resented how he quickly rehired her after the Biomax incident. They resented that Snapper cared enough to follow Kara's blog. They resented how Kara was one of the few reporters who got Supergirl to agree to interviews when the hero usually dismissed most reporters with a polite "no comment" or an "I already spoke with Miss Danvers from CatCo Worldwide Media". They resented the way Ms. Grant had once again gravitated to Kara upon her return to National City. They resented the praise she got and the concern that only she got from their boss. They resented the fact that a cub reporter had her own office (or the fact that she got it back after she was rehired) while the rest of them; the more seasoned ones only had their cubicles in the general bullpen._

 _The other person opened the door suddenly, stopping Kara's mental rant. "Snapper wants to see you in Mr. Olsen's office ASAP." A junior reporter by the name of Brian Miller said, sticking only his upper body through the door._

" _Did they say why?" Kara asked all business, hoping it would mask the uneasiness that had crept in once she heard the request. They had never asked to see her at the same time. Not even when Snapper had fired and rehired her. She was certain she hadn't done anything wrong, but with Snapper as her immediate boss she was never sure. And things weren't that great with James either, so again, she had no idea what could happen._

" _No. They didn't bother to tell a peon like me. Not all of us have a close friendship with the new Director of Media Content and the Editor in Chief. Next time, tell your buddy he has a personal assistant for such things. Better yet, remind them both there are such things called telephones. I don't have time to play gopher. I have actual articles to research for and write." Miller said bitterly. "This isn't optional. Don't take too long because I don't want either of them to yell at me for not running their silly little errands. God only knows how you managed to always get away with disappearing without notice when you were Ms. Grant's assistant." He said before he turned around and left, not giving Kara a chance to say anything else. But it wasn't as if there was anything she could say since Miller was partially right. James did have Eve as his personal assistant whenever Ms. Grant wasn't physically at CatCo herself._

 _Kara couldn't help the long sigh that escaped. Her friendship with James had never been a secret, but did they really think Snapper and her were "close friends"? Kara had thought that Ms. Grant making sure she answered directly to Snapper instead of James would have meant fewer rumours. It hurt that after Ms. Grant left for her sabbatical, she started to hear some people talking about her behind her back. Many of them thought that if things were bad before because she was Ms. Grant's Golden Child, things would be even worse now that her best friend James had taken over as interim CEO. Before her promotion, she thought she had earned their respect for surviving as long as she had as Ms. Grant's personal assistant. It seemed though, that many of them shared Snapper's initial views that Kara hadn't earned her position as a reporter. It didn't help that Ms. Grant made no secret that with Kara's promotion, came the office and Kara herself would pick her new position (within reason). Many thought that Kara had no business running around pretending to be a journalist when in reality she hadn't even been passionate enough about writing to have had pursued writing or journalism as a college major. Everyone knew Kara had a double major in Digital Art Design and Marketing because Snapper had made sure to shout it at the top of his lungs when he went on and on about how unqualified Kara had been and that she would never be a real reporter because she hadn't earned it like everyone else in his bullpen. Things had only gotten worse after Snapper rehired her and started to openly, but albeit hesitantly treating her with newfound respect (in his own unique way of course)._

 _What hurt most was that the worst offenders, the ones who would say those horrible things about her and call her names behind her back, were also the ones who greeted her with fake smiles and fake enthusiasm. They were the ones who were always overly nice to her whenever she was present. They were the ones who paid her compliments and had gone as far as to invite her to drinks so they could bond (which she always declined. No use in wasting her money on overpriced alcoholic drinks that had no effect on her. And on top of that, spend her very precious free time with people who clearly disliked her). But the second she was far enough away (for someone with human hearing), they'd start making fun of the way she dressed, the way she talked, the way she would stammer when nervous. They were the ones who relished that at least she still got stuck writing nothing but fluff and filler pieces that got edited to death. It had brought back all the bullying she was subjected to during her first few years on Earth._

 _Kara stopped walking before she made the final turn to the open space outside Ms. Grant's office (James's now, she reminded herself again). She wondered if the chatter about her was kept to a minimum because they all knew she was on her way. So far, all she overheard were bets on how much trouble she was in and if she'd finally get "her ass fired for good this time". As expected, the moment they noticed Kara round that corner, everyone stopped talking for a few seconds before chatter picked up again, only this time topics were work, the latest fad diets and foods, the weather and the current approval rates of President Marsdin, trying to appear as if they weren't just talking about her._

 _Kara did her best to tune out the gossipmongers and made a beeline for Eve's desk. Just because she was expected, she wasn't going to just waltz in. When she saw the pile of paperwork Eve was sorting through she understood why someone else had come to get her. Miller was right though. James could have used the phone._

" _What are you waiting for, Ponytail, an engraved invitation? You're not being paid to socialize." Snapper yelled out before she even got a word out to greet Eve._

 _Kara ignored the snickers from the others in the bullpen while she sent a smile and quickly mouthed 'hello' to Eve on her way inside. Her smile faltered and her heart started beating fast again after she saw Eve mouth 'good luck'._

" _Uh, I wasn't going to socialize. I was going to have Eve announce that I'm here." Kara replied._

" _One. Couldn't you see how busy she is? And two. This is a see-through office. We're not blind. You were expected. No need to waste everyone's time like that." Snapper said. "Neither Olsen nor myself would've cared if you just came in as expected. It would've been preferred. If you want to be a better reporter, you have to think on your feet. You need to know who you are meeting with. It's like knowing the audience you're writing for, so you choose your words to match them." He added._

 _Kara nodded. More often than not, since she was re-hired, Snapper would add a few words of advice after berating her for something. 'Maybe this meeting wouldn't be so bad.' Kara thought, relaxing slightly._

 _James glared at the group that was slowly gathering outside his office, intent on eavesdropping. It was at times like these that he cursed Cat's need for a fishbowl of an office. Sure, it gave her and now him the chance to see anyone slacking off and in Cat's words; it was a chance to lead by example. In her opinion, if she expected everyone to give her one hundred and ten percent, then come hell or high water, she would be doing the same and her employees would see her doing just that. At least the glare was effective enough for people to disperse, but he knew that wouldn't last._

" _Let's take it to the balcony where we can have some privacy." James said as he pointed to the sliding doors. He had to bite back the urge to yell at them to get back to work when he noticed the deflated looks once everyone had noticed they were heading out to the balcony._

' _And there goes the good feelings.' Kara thought as she was led through the sliding doors._

" _Ponytail, I have a new assignment for you." Snapper said the moment the doors slid shut._

 _That was the last thing Kara expected. The way James had insisted on privacy, she thought for sure she was going to get fired or demoted. At least now, she wouldn't have to start job hunting immediately. Her last stint with unemployment seriously depleted her savings. Her relief was short lived and her paranoia skyrocketed the moment she caught sight of James looking everywhere but at her. He had tried to disguise it as making sure the others were doing their jobs, but she knew him enough to recognize when he was avoiding her. It brought back all the negative feelings of the Guardian fiasco. She knew immediately she wouldn't like the assignment. James's darting eyes was all the confirmation she needed. Kara wondered if this was how humans got ulcers; the constant up and down in the extremes she had been experiencing lately._

 _Snapper rolling his eyes condescendingly at them made Kara wish she could hide her feelings better. That she could somehow not wear her feelings on her face. That was something that Alex and Lena always teased her about. The thought of Lena brought the now familiar sense of loss, sadness and guilt, so Kara did what she had been doing each and every time. She buried those feelings behind a wall of anger and indignation. Now wasn't the time to brood. She turned her full attention to Snapper and waited for what she knew was going to be something she would hate._

" _I want you to write an exclusive on LCorp's and your gal pal Luthor's involvement in ending the Daxamite invasion. Find out the truth from the rumours floating around. How the youngest Luthor knew about the lead thing, or if it was her mother and that militant organization of hers, Cadmus, that told her about it. I want quotes on how she came up with that idea for the device used. How did she managed to get it made so fast? How did she determine the safety levels needed to make the lead to be as non-toxic as possible to humans? What gave her the right to play god and make a decision that would certainly affect all of us, especially the elderly, children and those who are already physically weak. While you're at it, make sure to interview Supergirl as well. I want to know why she went ahead with that plan. And see if you can get at least a couple of photos." Snapper said._

" _I thought you assigned that story to O'Neill because you didn't want my friendships with L..., uh, Miss Luthor and Supergirl to taint CatCo's journalistic integrity." Kara said confused and a bit suspicious._

" _That was before your friends refused to talk to anyone. In the past, you've managed to get them to go on the record when they refused to talk to the press. I'm counting that if you're the one asking, both of them will start granting interviews again. I'll edit the piece myself to make sure it's unbiased." Snapper replied as calmly as he could. He had promised Cat he would do a better job showing Danvers the ropes, He promised he would be a good mentor. He agreed with her that the young woman had potential._

" _That doesn't mean Miss Luthor will automatically talk to me on the record. She has made it very clear she doesn't want to talk about what happened. And no one has seen Supergirl unless there is an emergency. Once that emergency has been attended to, she just leaves without a word. She no longer flies around the city regularly and it's not as if I can just pull out my phone to call her." Kara said evenly, trying not to grind her teeth._

" _Supergirl has a soft spot for you. Olsen told me Luthor gave you unrestricted access to LCorp. Why didn't I know about that? Use that to your advantage and get me that interview. That will be a true exclusive. We'll run it in three parts starting with our website where we'll introduce the story and tease our readers, followed by a printed run of the Trib and in the paid portion of the online content with detailed events of what happened. We'll print a teaser in the CatCo Magazine website and print the last part in the upcoming issue of the magazine where you can give readers more insight on Luthor's motivations and how Supergirl knew she could trust her. This may even put the Trib back in the black." Snapper said, ignoring Kara._

" _I can't just start shouting and hoping Supergirl will suddenly hear me and grant me an interview. Just like I can't walk up to Miss Luthor and spring this out of nowhere." Kara countered._

" _Yes you can. You're just not willing to. Unrestricted access means you get to bypass the need for an appointment." Snapper said in a tone of voice used to explain something to a child._

" _I can't abuse my friendship with them like that. It's not ethical." Kara tried again._

" _Don't lecture me about ethics. You're the one who posted something on a personal blog as a temper tantrum because I wouldn't let an unconfirmed article be published? I'm not asking you to make up sources here. I'm asking you to use the resources you've been handed. According to Olsen, she knew you're a reporter when she gave you that unrestricted access. Anyone would know it was a matter of time you'd use it for work reasons." Snapper said, voice rising and getting more exasperated by the second._

" _Even if I can get Supergirl on the record, I won't be able to do the same with Miss Luthor. Because of the constant harassment from reporters and paparazzi, Miss Luthor has a temporary restraining order against any and all reporters from approaching unless she agrees to an interview and they have an appointment." Kara said as evenly as possible. Didn't Snapper say something about Supergirl not being enough to risk their journalistic integrity when Kara couldn't get the DEO to go on the record for the alien abduction story? How it would look bad for a reporter to constantly write about her friends because it would be a major conflict of interest. Now she was allowed to write about Supergirl, Lena and LCorp because she was their last-ditch resort? She really wanted to fry both of them. Maybe give them a mild case of frostbite? Snapper for being such an opportunistic ass and James for being such a coward. He still hadn't said a word and still refused to meet her eyes._

" _Why am I only finding about it now? When was this issued? How the hell did Lena Luthor manage that? Not even Lillian Luthor was able to do that during her son's arrest and trial." Snapper nearly shouted. That had come as a complete surprise._

" _Lena Luthor put in the request three weeks ago. Her lawyers pulled some strings and sped up the hearing. It was issued two weeks ago. She managed it because of the previous attempts on her life. The judge thought a hired assassin would be able to pose as a journalist or a paparazzo and get close enough to kill her." James finally said something when it was clear Kara wasn't going to answer. He needed to get control of the situation and somehow manage to convince Kara this was a good idea. He missed the times when Kara would be a stammering mess trying to please everyone. While he understood what Kara was going through after losing Monel (mainly because he basically moved to the opposite coast when Lucy had broken things between them), he was getting tired of this moody version of the Kryptonian. It had been four months and Kara was still moping around instead of getting better. Not only that, she was getting angrier. Last time Kara was unable to control her anger, she had nearly broken the hand of someone while saving a group of kids. He doubted punching cars would help this time._

" _Big surprise. With that last name and with the brother and mother she has, what was she expecting? A love fest? Even if she isn't at all like them, many will go after her to get revenge for the other two's actions. Did anyone tell this hack of a judge fire burns? She can always hire extra security. The very essence of our First Amendment is at stake here." Snapper seethed. He wondered what the hell O'Neill had been doing during the last two weeks he was supposed to be camped outside LCorp trying to get that damn interview._

" _Snapper, I'll take care of this." James said before Kara got a chance to reply. He was getting worried Kara would say something that she would regret later and more than likely would get her fired a second time. This meant no story for CatCo and he couldn't allow that to happen. Worse yet, he was worried that in her anger, Kara would say or do something that would reveal her alter ego._

" _You better Olsen. You heard what Cat said." Snapper fired back; glad that while he still had to answer to James, the man couldn't fire him either since Cat was back as CEO. It was surprising that the woman had chosen to still delegate the more day to day jobs she used to cling to while she would still run the company working mostly from home. "And you? You need to learn to clamp down on your personal feelings. You're here to do a job. That job isn't to make friends. It's to get to the truth. Do not let people use your bleeding heart against you. Luthor and Supergirl are using your friendship as a way to control their narratives. What better way to control the tones of articles when the only person who has access to them also happens to be a friend? Wise up." He added to Kara before he slid the balcony doors open and stormed back into the general bullpen._

 _Kara could hear everyone scrambling back to their desks and Snapper yelling at them to get their sorry asses back to work. At least the man was consistent and he was brusque with everyone._

" _I know you're loyal to a fault, but why are you fighting this, Kara? Weren't you the one who was so outraged you were taken off of any future LCorp or Lena pieces because you assured everyone you could be unbiased?" James asked while he closed the sliding doors again, preventing Kara from addressing Snapper. After all, before the current situation, Snapper and he had agreed it was better to send another reporter to interview the LCorp CEO to avoid any appearance of impropriety. But that was before Lena had refused to speak to the media and before that restraining order._

" _Because you're doing it for the wrong reasons. Lena has been refusing all interviews and you think that our friendship means she'll automatically talk to me. She has had reporters from every major and minor publication hounding her for months, including one from CatCo. If she wanted to, she would have given CatCo an exclusive already. She knows I've been taken off anything that has to do with her or her company so she's not holding out for me. Suddenly, I'm the one to do the asking and she wouldn't be suspicious at all? How would you even think I'd consider betraying her like this? Her entire life she has been used by people for something or other. I will not be another so called friend that uses her when it suits me." Kara said as neutrally as possible, glad that everyone thought their friendship was as solid as ever and that the time away from everyone, including Lena, had been because she was still mourning Monel's loss. "Do you care about the scoop of the decade so much that you'd risk my freedom? We both know I'll breach that restraining order the moment I ask her a question about her role in the Daxamite mess without an appointment and without her agreeing for an interview." She added with a glare._

" _So you're finally seeing that Lena isn't as innocent as she claims to be? That she'd betray and throw you to the wolves if it meant protecting herself and her company. People only refuse to talk when they have something big to hide." James threw back._

" _Or they simply value their privacy. Why is it so hard for you and the others to believe that Lena was manipulated by Rhea? That she was lied to? Lena had no idea who Rhea was. She thought she was helping a stranded alien wanting to go home. An alien who didn't want to fight and compete for resources because she still had a home to return to. She also thought that a transmatter portal would do so much good for our planet. When she found out the real motives, she did something to stop Rhea and the entire Daxamite army." Kara nearly shouted, barely able to bite back the "stop projecting your own failings and your need to lie about Guardian" from slipping. She kept her eyes fixed on the silhouettes of people walking on the street. Otherwise, she was sure she would throw James over the railing. Only this time she wouldn't have red kryptonite to blame for her actions._

" _Come on Kara, stop being so naïve. I know you like to see the best in everyone; even those who don't deserve it. But she has the ninth highest recorded IQ in history. How could she not know?" James fired back._

 _Kara knew exactly how it happened. Rhea had seen and exploited Lena's need for that maternal connection she always lacked but wanted from Lillian, but it wasn't for her to say. That was something only Lena had the right to divulge and if she didn't want the world to know, then the world would never know. At least not from Kara. "Because having that kind of intellect doesn't mean you don't get blinded by other things, like the possibilities of what a transmatter portal calibrated to work only for Earth could mean. She was only seeing what something like that could do to help people here. You and everyone else keep forgetting that Earth under Daxamite control would have meant she would have been enslaved as well." She said instead._

" _Or she could have made a deal with Rhea to prevent that. Or worse, a deal that would've given her some type of powerful role in 'New Daxam'." James said, voice rising as well._

" _If that was the case, then she would have done nothing to help stop the invasion. She is the reason Earth is still free and not under the control of that lunatic. I was there when Rhea double crossed her. I saw the shock and hurt in her face. After all Lena has done to help, how can you still doubt her?" Kara said, still refusing to look at him. She was glad no one knew the real reason why Rhea had kidnapped Lena when she was betrayed. It would only fuel their mistrust._

" _Lena turned in her mother without hesitation. Who betrays their parents like that? Then she worked with her mother like nothing bad happened. For someone who keeps claiming she's nothing like Lillian or Lex, she keeps going back to Lillian. First, it was the Medusa virus. Then for some unexplained reason, Lillian had Metallo break her out of jail. She talked you into throwing your career away by suggesting that blog. They used a device Lex made to kill Clark. A device meant to kill Kryptonians. To kill you. They could have come up with something different. Hell, Daxamites aren't bulletproof. Good old-fashioned lead bullets would have worked." James argued._

" _Lena may have given me the idea of using a blog for my article, but it was Monel who convinced me to go through with it. And even then, it was still my lapse in judgement. I could have found a different way, but I made the decision to do that because as policy dictates, I couldn't name the DEO as my second source during an open investigation. I could have asked you to pull rank because you knew my information was accurate. Instead, I let my ego dictate my actions. I didn't want to be known as the reporter who had to ask her friend to bail her out. I took the easy way out and I paid for it. As for Lena going back to Lillian? It doesn't take a genius to know why. No matter how awful that woman may be, Lillian Luthor is still Lena's mother. As much as I disliked what became of my aunt Astra, I still loved her. I kept hoping I could bring her back. Does that make me evil? My mother, for the longest time ignored my aunt Astra's warnings about Krypton's imminent destruction because she wasn't part of the science guild. It wasn't until my father and my uncle arrived at the same conclusion when it was too late to do anything that she scrambled along with the rest of my family to illegally put Clark and me in those pods. Are you going to judge me by her inaction as well? She only cared enough to save me while she let an entire planet die because she wasn't open-minded enough. My family could have done more to help evacuate more than just the two of us. They didn't because they thought Kal and I were the only hope for our race. They thought that with the codex split and embedded between us, we'd somehow bridge Earth and Krypton. Not once did they think that Kal and I would be taking over an entire planet's civilization to do so. They didn't care about what happened to humans. Only what those humans roles would be for giving Krypton a second. Does that mean that we are only defined by our mistakes and bad actions? That when we choose to do something good it's pointless? Does that make me a self-serving hypocrite as well? Is that what you and everyone else think of me? That I'm a ticking time-bomb and I could go evil at any moment? Do all of you think the way I behaved when I was exposed to red kryptonite is the real me because you all say it freed my darkest thoughts? She wanted to include her father's creation of the Medusa virus, but couldn't. The man may have created a biological weapon of mass destruction to defend Krypton from stronger invaders, but they never had to deploy it. By contrast, Kara had to make the decision to deploy one in order to keep Earth safe, and she couldn't voice out loud the reason she had been so angry and withdrawn the entire time following their victory. It wasn't about Monel's departure, but Kara's role in it._

" _No one who knows you thinks the way you acted under the influence of red kryptonite reflects the real you at all. You weren't yourself because you were poisoned. That's different. I'm sorry it took me so long to see that. Without something altering your thoughts, you're not capable of doing such things." James said. "Lena wasn't under the influence of anything. She was acting on her own free will." He added._

" _And in every one of those instances you've mentioned, the end result each time was something overwhelmingly positive. It was her blackbody field generator that destroyed the alien weapons being used by that gang of thieves. She stopped the genocide of the entire alien population here. And in the process, she sent her own mother to jail. She helped me find the warehouse where Cadmus and Lillian were using to forcefully ship as many aliens as they could into space. In fact, if it weren't for Lena, Alex wouldn't be here. I was only able to stop that ship in time because of the information Lena gave me. She stopped Beth Breen and the Biomax disaster by sacrificing her own chance for happiness because there was no way to come up with an alternative. And in case you've forgotten, she's the reason once again I'm not dead and the reason you and the rest of Earth's inhabitants aren't slaves." Kara said for what felt like the millionth time._

" _And each time, she lied about it. Don't you see the pattern here? The last couple of times she helped, people had to die. She was so set on acquiring new technology, she missed what would have been obvious to you or Alex or J'onn. Her work is why we were invaded and you had to kill someone. We're the good guys, Kara. We don't kill." James said._

 _Kara finally looked at him. Her eyes held disappointment and disillusionment. How could someone claiming to be the "good guy" be so blind? "Alex killed Morrow in an attempt to stop Red Tornado. She also killed my aunt Astra. She told me that in a war, people die, even if they try their best to not kill anyone. Clark nearly destroyed Metropolis in his attempt to stop General Zod. Who knows how many people got hurt or died during that battle? He had to kill Zod in order to save a family of bystanders. Lois, along with my uncle's hologram sent General Zod's followers back to the Phantom Zone. That's a fate worse than death. That's an eternity of torture because time doesn't pass but you're still aware of everything around you. You can't move or do anything. You just have your thoughts to keep you company; and to hopefully keep you sane. It is so eerily quiet there that the silence is nearly deafening. In the process, many soldiers died. M'gann tortured and killed so many Green Martians before she changed and has been trying to redeem herself. We don't even know what J'onn had to do in order to protect his family and his people because he never talks about it. Until he learned to control his powers, he permanently damaged people while he was trying to get information from them. He killed Indigo. She may have seemed like artificial intelligence imbued tech, but her entire race is like that. They're living tech. They possess a soul, just like you and me. I killed Non and Rhea. Who knows how many Daxamites were killed during that invasion by all of us. We did that in the name of protecting others and ultimately, protecting this planet." She said sadly._

" _That's different. You were all forced to do so. Those were last resort actions." James countered feebly._

" _If you and the others are willing to justify our actions like that and to give us the benefit of the doubt because you all believe the good within outweighs our darkness; then why can't you do the same with Lena?" The thought of Lena caused her shoulders to droop with the now, constant weight of her guilt. She did the best she could to push those thoughts aside. Now wasn't the time to brood or dwell on her mistakes._

" _Because her entire family is evil. She has been exposed to that kind of toxic environment since she was four. As children, we learn by examples set by the adults around us. According to experts, our personalities aren't set until we're about five to seven years old. She was adopted when she was four. They had years to influence her. There's no way she isn't just like them." James shouts; his frustration evident._

" _Then why aren't you suspicious of Winn? He's the Toyman's son. He also had years to influence Winn. Everyone knows that Lionel Luthor was ruthless in business, but he never shared any of the crazy ideas Lillian and Lex are known for, and neither has Lena." Kara managed to say evenly._

" _Winn was eleven when his father went crazy. Old enough to know better, but too young to stop him. Lionel Luthor may not have openly said or done anything, but you can't tell me he wasn't aware of it. That kind of hate is impossible to hide. He never did a thing to stop them. He was too busy making more money. That made him just as guilty. Just like Lena. Why didn't she stop Lex when he first started to spiral downward? When he first started manipulating events to destroy your only surviving family. I don't buy that she didn't know about her brother and mother founded Cadmus as a way to get rid of aliens. Why didn't she stop them before it got so out of hand?" James shouted, unable to control his temper._

 _Kara wanted to slap him. Lex's descent into madness had happened slowly. It had started while Lena was sent away to boarding school, when she was still a child. Once she realized what was happening, she was away for college and still too young to be able to do anything. But oh, how Lena tried to reason with Lex, only he wasn't hearing any of it. Those constant attempts were what caused the now huge rift between brother and sister. James knew that originally, Cadmus had started as a private contractor to the US military, they had only parted ways when Supergirl and the DEO stopped Non and Myriad. By then, Lena was beyond estranged from her mother and it wasn't until around the Medusa fiasco that Lena found out about Lillian's involvement with Cadmus. In fact, Lena and Lillian barely talked to one another after Lionel had died and Lena was sent to boarding school. Kara would never betray Lena's confidence by discussing what she had learned in one of their many nights just talking and sharing. Even without knowing any of that, how could James so conveniently forget that Lena testified against her brother so his victims and their families could receive some justice and closure? Doing so had painted a huge target on Lena's back because in Lex's eyes Lena was a traitor. Even Kara remembered what had happened during Lex's trial when Lena was testifying. It was so high profile they had televised everything and one of her professors in her freshman year had been so obsessed with it, that he stopped lectures just so they could watch the trial. There were a series of outburst where Lex had threatened to kill her, that Lena would never be safe until one of them was dead. She remembered the look on Lena's face when Lex followed his rabid rants by calmly stating how his mother was right and Lena was never a real Luthor. He then went in for the kill by cursing the day his father felt sorry enough to adopt a worthless orphan. Kara remembered how devastated Lena was when she recounted that because aside from Lionel, Lex had been the only other person who welcomed her with open arms when she was first adopted._

" _It seems we've reached an impasse on this subject for now. I won't change my mind and no matter what I say or what Lena does, it's likely you won't change yours. We're at work and we shouldn't be having this talk here. How about you tell me why I'm suddenly the go-to reporter for this story when you and Snapper made it perfectly clear that I could never be objective with Lena before removing me from anything Lena or LCorp related." Kara eventually said as she once again leaned against the railing and focused on the people below them, tired of the circle they were caught on._

 _James stared at Kara's profile as he tried to figure out the best way to proceed. Clearly trying to open Kara's eyes to Lena's true motives was taking him nowhere. They would try and make Kara see the truth in their next game night. Maybe an intervention of sorts would help. But Kara was right. Work was certainly not the place or time for such a talk. Kara's frustration was almost palpable. It was obvious he needed to change tactics._

" _No one understands Lena's refusal to talk to the press. It's only a matter of time before people will wonder why, if they're not already doing so. They'll start to speculate why someone who claims she has nothing to hide is refusing a simple interview. It's how negative rumours start. By getting ahead of the situation, she gets to set the record straight about what happened. She gets to control the narrative. The good publicity would help that positive image Lena has been trying to give Luth..., I mean, LCorp since taking over as CEO. It would mean confirmation that LCorp is slowly turning into that positive force of good, and at the same time show what a manipulative user Lillian is. It would do wonders to separate Lena even more from the image most people still have of her because she shares the same last name as Lex and Lillian." James finally settled on saying._

" _Cut the crap James. I may have only been a journalist for a short period of time. I may be very trusting, but I'm not an idiot; so don't try to manipulate me with clichés. You just spent the last half hour telling me how confused I've been and how wrong I am to trust Lena. Suddenly you have her company's and her best interests at heart?" Kara said turning to face him._

" _See it as the opportunity to prove Lena is all you believe her to be and prove others wrong." James tried, but the glare he got from Kara made him rethink his words. Being honest was the only option left. "The truth is Cat isn't happy with how CatCo has been performing since she took her sabbatical." He added. "Since I took over as interim CEO." He admitted._

" _I didn't realize our friendship deteriorated to the point that you now lie to me on a regular basis and that you only seem to be honest with me when you have no other choice. Funny how it's okay for you to lie, but it's unacceptable for anyone else." Kara said sadly, remembering how that seemed to be the case with just about everyone in her life now. "Personal issues aside, what does your performance as CEO have anything to do with me or my abilities to remain impartial. You can't seriously believe the rumour mill that I'm the only reason for CatCo's stocks to take a dip recently. I'm just one rookie reporter. I only write stories assigned to me by the Editor in Chief for CatCo Magazine. I have nothing to do with the Trib, the online content, the radio or TV news stations." Kara countered, unable to keep herself from rolling her eyes._

" _No, but with Supergirl and Lena refusing interviews, you're the only one who has direct access to the one story the entire world is dying to read and hear about, but no one can get. You're one of Lena's closest friends. I've even heard her say you're her only friend. You can get her to agree on an exclusive interview split the way Snapper suggested. We can extend it into an interview to be aired at the radio and TV stations simultaneously. CatCo Worldwide Media would scoop every major media network around the world." James said._

" _I told you I won't abuse my friendship with Lena that way." Kara said vehemently. "You wouldn't shut up about how unethical it was to use myself as a source. Well guess what, I'm doing exactly as you requested. I'm no longer using myself as a source and I'm no longer writing about Supergirl, Lena or LCorp." She added._

" _You don't have a choice Kara. All our jobs depend on it." James said in a near whisper, knowing Kara would have no problem hearing him._

" _So, is this an ultimatum? If I don't do this, you're firing me?" Kara asked incredulous, ready to quit on the spot if needed because she wasn't going to be bullied anymore._

" _No Kara. I didn't say it was only your job that's at stake here. It's all of ours. If I can't make the company turn around soon, Cat made it very clear she will come back full time. But that comes with a huge price. She let me know in no uncertain terms that if that happens, she will downsize most of the employees starting with me, and restart with a mostly brand new staff because she found it unacceptable that the current staff can't function without her. And for those who are lucky enough to keep their jobs, she'll micromanage everything and everyone. No job will be safe. If for whatever reason that soft spot she has for you means you get to keep your job, would you want to be responsible for most of us losing ours?" James said looking everywhere but at her._

" _And how exactly is a single interview going to turn CatCo around?" Kara asked, trying her best to keep her temper in check._

" _It won't be a single interview. The entire world is interested in what you and Clark do as your alter egos. While there are many stories about Superman with quotes and the rare photo op, right now, there are no direct accounts from Supergirl herself. Everything out there is second hand information. We no longer have the Supergirl exclusives everyone craves. The world can't get enough about the last Luthor standing and she won't talk to anyone but you. When I asked you to use other sources other than yourself and to let others write about Supergirl, I didn't mean for you to stop talking to others by refusing all interviews and photo ops." James admitted._

" _You're unbelievable. I can't risk my identity by talking to other reporters regularly. Unlike Kal, I don't have another reporter in the know who can protect my identity. And instead of running the company Ms. Grant entrusted to you; you decided to run around being a vigilante trying to be a hero and neglected your day job." Kara said with a shake of her head. "In case you forgot, there is more news than just what I do as my alter ego or what Lena is up to with LCorp. There is an entire world with events happening in it." She added._

" _We talked about this already. I couldn't sit in the background anymore. I had to do something to help. I couldn't continue being the sidekick. I was Clark's for so long. When I first came here and you decided to take on the mantle of superhero, I thought I'd be on equal footing. I thought I'd help guide you. Instead, I became the sidekick all over again only this time; there were two of us, Winn and me. To add insult to injury, Winn found his place in the DEO. He got to help even when he wasn't relaying information to you. I was back to being useless. When I decided to be more proactive and split my time between being her new art director and photographer, I didn't expect Cat to assign me to being your personal photographer. I didn't come to the opposite coast to once again be known as the guy who took pictures of the Supers." James said frustrated._

" _And that's somehow my fault?" Kara asked._

" _No, but you know that no one says 'no' to Cat Grant without suffering dire consequences. Have you forgotten how she was ready to fire me unless I got her that interview with Supergirl after you saved Alex's plane and you started doing your heroics wearing that same crest as Clark?" James countered._

" _And I did the interview back then so you wouldn't lose your job. I can't believe you're putting me in a similar position again." Kara said sadly._

" _I didn't ask you then." James quickly defended himself._

" _No, but you didn't talk me out of it either." Kara said, letting out a humourless laugh._

" _It isn't just my job at stake. I need to prove to Cat I'm not incompetent." James said._

" _Somehow, that falls on my shoulders? You could have done that by learning to do your job properly instead of running around playing pretend superhero and risking your life because your ego got bruised. If you were so intent on being a hero, you should have at least learned to manage your time better." Kara said, unable to contain the bite from her voice._

" _You weren't perfect when you started. You caused an oil spill. You only knew to start small because Cat told you to. And you managed that only because Winn and I were telling you where the small things were happening. If it weren't for my help with the non-alien threats, you would've never had the time to start your relationship with Monel. It's thanks to me that you were able to find the balance between your day job and your side job and still have time for a social life. Or have you forgotten we were the first casualty because you spread yourself too thin? We could have been great together." James said bitterly. He only realized he went too far when he saw Kara's eyes fill with tears. Though he wasn't sure if they were tears of anger, sadness or both. "Kara, I—" He started to backtrack only to be interrupted._

" _I don't know who you are anymore. I'll find a way to do this interview without using Lena. But don't you dare say that I'm being biased when I recount what happened during my fight with Rhea, what led to it and how the invasion was stopped. You weren't there. And to be perfectly clear, I'm not doing this because I'm afraid of losing my job. I'd rather quit or be fired than to use a friend in such a way. I'm only doing this because everyone else here doesn't deserve to lose their jobs because you didn't do yours. If you weren't ready for such a challenge or you were so set on being a vigilante then you should have declined the promotion. Ms. Grant could have given the position to someone who actually wanted to continue her vision and was willing to put in the hours to make that happen." Kara said before she left without giving him a chance to say anything else._

* * *

Kara can't believe James put the well being of so many people on her shoulders. She can write a very detailed account of what happened. Give CatCo the Supergirl exclusives once again (provided she's the one writing them). But how in the world is she expected to get Lena to talk about something that her best friend clearly doesn't want to? How is she going to be able to request that dreaded interview without having Lena think Kara is using their friendship for personal gain? In all the time she has had unrestricted access to LCorp and to Lena, Kara always made sure it was only used for personal visits and never for anything CatCo related, even if there were times the lines were blurred. More than once Kara has wondered how many of the exclusives she has gotten have been because she and Lena are friends. Even with Lena reassuring her that the only reason Kara gets her exclusives is because Kara is the only reporter in the entire nation (and at times, it feels, the entire world) that is willing to always give Lena the benefit of the doubt. Because Kara is the only reporter Lena has encountered that is willing to listen without preconceived notions. At least not after their first meeting when she was still shadowing Clark and trying to figure out what to do with her "regular" career.

If things were the same between herself and Lena, Kara could just put the cards on the table and ask. But now? Their friendship is strained enough that just making the request and telling Lena why would only seem like pressure just so Kara won't lose her job a second time. And knowing Lena, she would agree in a heartbeat if it meant helping Kara. Even if it involved doing something she didn't want to.

Lena was the first person she saw after the thwarted invasion. That meeting was beyond awkward and each subsequent visit had only gotten worse. With LCorp being renovated and fixed, they had met at Kara's apartment in order to avoid the press. Things had been so weird and charged between them, they could barely hold a conversation that wasn't full of small talk. Kara chalked it up to the guilt Lena was feeling for her role in the whole thing. After all, it was so clear in Lena's expressive eyes. To compound the issue, Kara was already feeling bad that LCorp's headquarters had taken the brunt of the destruction. When they finally started talking, no matter how many times they tried to dissuade the other of blame, both were unable to let of their guilt. They would avoid all kind of eye contact, looking everywhere but at each other. If by some unfortunate happenstance Lena's eye would land on something that belonged to Monel; she would once again take the full blame for what happened and then offer another apology, and the cycle would start all over again. They would then fall into a very uncomfortable silence. Not even when Kara had gone to LCorp with Clark right after the Venture accident and he had accused Lena of being responsible for the incident had things been so awkward between them. They probably would have just sat there in that uncomfortable silence had Lena's phone not interrupted them, informing the CEO she was needed for some emergency meeting regarding LCorp's reconstruction and renovation. So with another apology for the interruption and a promise to call later, Lena had left. Kara and Lena both couldn't hide the relief their meeting had been cut short.

What floored Kara were her own convoluted emotions. It wasn't until recently that she started to figure things out. She was sure none of her moodiness was directed at Lena, certainly not on purpose. She never blamed Lena for anything, and still doesn't. Kara's initial reaction was to isolate herself by choice. All she knew was that she couldn't stomach seeing anyone after she pressed that remote. The more they tried to comfort Kara, the angrier she got. She, along with everyone in her life thought she was just reacting to her sudden breakup. That she needed time to grieve in private (which was partially true), so eventually they had left her alone. What was truly confusing had been her reaction to seeing Monel's things in her apartment. Along with the sadness of the sudden breakup, also came feelings of anger and shame. It had taken a bit to admit that even to herself, but once she did, instead of helping her deal, it only made things worse, at least initially. At first, she thought she needed to be alone because the sight of Alex and Winn being so happy with their partners was like rubbing salt in the wound, even if she was very happy for them. She thought it was a reminder of not having that anymore in her life. But as sad as she was, not having Monel around didn't feel debilitating. It was nowhere close to what it felt like the first time they had broken up when she found out about his lies. As days dragged into weeks, the sadness was gone but the shame and guilt remained, though they weren't as acute. All that changed when Kara was in the presence of her family and friends. Whenever she was around others, she just wanted to crawl into a hole. It hadn't helped that her feelings were written all over her face. Lena constantly asking her if things were all right between them should have been a huge hint. But she was so deep in self-pity; Kara had missed all the cues.

Kara thinks back to each of their subsequent meetings. Every time they met in private, Lena would apologize over and over for her role in the invasion. For being so insecure she played right into Rhea's hands. For not coming to Kara sooner with the details of that portal and for not revealing the identity of her new mentor. That in turn, made Kara feel horrible because she would then blame herself for not having enough time to spend with her best friend. Because she was never around when Lena would call to hang out, choosing instead to spend time with Monel. Then Lena would apologize for being the one who came up with the idea of dispersing lead and for being the one who modified Lex's device in order to do so that ended up in all Daxamites' banishment (at least for the foreseeable future). Eventually, by some strange, unspoken agreement, they started to meet in neutral (read: public) places. They both knew that with so many reporters hounding Lena, they would never have the chance to talk about anything deep or personal. Every conversation they had was superficial at best. The excuse being that they couldn't risk of strangers overhearing them. Kara was constantly mulling over her behaviour and at times, wondered if that was what Lena's fear of losing control was like. Only for Kara, becoming her family's legacy had become a reality. At one point, they were barely saying two sentences to each other before the other was replying in monosyllables. It had simply been easier to keep their distance and over the span of four months, they have barely seen each other.

The turning point was Kara's conversation with Clark months later, when he admitted he would have never been able to choose Earth over Lois. It had her wondering if she truly was that in love with Monel. It was a shock and it hurt when the realization came that if she went through with the only option they had at the time, she would never be able to see Monel again, but the alternative was never a possibility for Kara. The thought of billions of people either killed or enslaved just so she could have her boyfriend never even crossed Kara's mind. In fact, she was surprised at how fast she had come to the choice she made. That led to the discovery that what she did wasn't all that different to what her father's intention had been when he bioengineered the Medusa virus, or even what Lillian had done when she tried to let it loose on National City as the test city in order to clean out Earth of all alien life forms. That had Kara feeling like a hypocrite for being so quick to condemn her father when she herself had resorted to what accounted to genocide to defend Earth. That was when it all clicked. It wasn't just about Monel no longer being there. For the first time, she started to think that perhaps the reasons her father's reasons for developing Medusa weren't so black and white. In the end, it truly came to doing anything and everything to defend her new home. Just like Zor-El had been willing to do before the discovery that Krypton was doomed.

Seeing Lena had and continues to be an indirect reminder that Kara isn't as different from her own parents as she always believed herself to be; simply because Lena and Lillian had been the ones who gave her access to that device. And after Clark confirmed he would never be able to give up Lois even if it were to save the entire planet, she wonders if she is capable of loving someone that deeply. After all, it wasn't that hard to sacrifice her boyfriend and his kind in order to save her new home, her family and her friends.

Kara, to this day, hasn't set foot in Lena's new office. She has been so sad and angry thinking she couldn't escape her family's legacy; she has neglected her job as Supergirl, resulting in five attempts on Lena's life during LCorp renovations. By the time she had somehow worked though some of it, things had reached a point where Kara was basically a recluse, only spending her time split between CatCo duties and the very basic of Supergirl duties. Kara feels like an idiot and a traitor because she has been unconsciously associating Lena with her own family's legacy. The kicker though, has been Kara's fear that Lena would only see a monster incapable of having any kind of humanity, cementing the whole "alien" bit. And she only has herself to blame for that. Alex's points when she talked about what has to be done while at war in order to survive resonates more than ever. Perhaps, it's time she applies the whole "the world isn't black and white" to herself and her biological parents. Knowing the actual reasons she has been so odd around Lena only makes Kara angrier because Lena has never been the kind of person to judge others. In fact, Lena has been the only person she knows who will always give someone the benefit of the doubt and a second chance because Lena has been on the receiving end of being judged solely by her last name and the actions of others. With one more disgusted look at the blinking cursor, she closes her word processing program and shuts down her laptop. It's clear she won't get anything done. Instead, she resolves to fix things between Lena and her. Not simply because it'd make writing that stupid article easier, but because she truly misses her best friend. And what truly floors her is that she misses Lena even more than she misses Monel. In the four months since the failed invasion, he has just become a dull pain that she failed at another romantic relationship. But not having Lena in her life instead feels like someone ripped out part of her soul.

Kara looks at the time and decides to surprise Lena with lunch. She knows it won't make up for months of neglect on her part, but hopefully, Lena will see it as a starting point to fix their friendship. Maybe, with her best friend by her side, she can truly start working on healing. Maybe with Lena by her side, she can start to slowly forgive herself.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:**

I will say that fear is a huge motivation. Thanks to a dear friend and fellow writer's threat of character deaths AND the lack of happy endings I actually managed to get off my lazy behind and write this. I do apologize for the delay. When you get sidetracked as easily as I do, this is what happens.

I am sorry for the delay though. Keep in mind that this is self-edited, so all mistakes belong to me. If (when) you spot something I missed, feel free to point it out so I can correct it.

Other stuff to keep in mind

\- In my universe, regular, Earth-technology kind of soundproofing will dampen Kara's hearing to very faint sounds, like heartbeats.  
\- I know the show hasn't given us any hints of where Lena lives or if it's an apartment or a house. So in my head-canon, she lives in an ultra-modern penthouse located in a building she owns.  
\- The idea for this story came during the season 2 to season 3 hiatus. I started to flesh it out and what was supposed to be a short little fun story mutated into what is yet another ridiculously long work in progress. That said, by the time I had the second chapter finally written, I had seen where the show was going and unlike the show, I'm choosing to have Kara concentrate on her "human" life because that is what she has become familiar with in the decade or so she has spent on Earth before taking on the mantle of Supergirl. And that only happened after she saved Alex's plane from crashing. In my head-canon, she would end up blaming all her current heartache on her decision to become Supergirl, since that is just a persona she took on to help others.  
\- I'm explaining the lead weakness of Daxamites as more than just being in the presence of the element or compounds with lead and more like the lead or lead compounds have to enter their system in order to do something because lead is a non-radioactive substance.  
\- I may in future chapters include Sam Arias & Ruby, but there will be no Reign.

 **Disclaimer:** please see chapter 1.

* * *

Chapter 3

Lena calls the emergency vet clinic to tell them she is running a little behind and she'll be there to pick up Pepé the moment she is done cat-proofing her home. She would rather have Pepé being cared for instead of being locked up in a cat carrier while she gets everything set at home (having him roaming free while she's making her penthouse safe for both of them seems to defeat the purpose). Lena doesn't want Pepé to feel any kind of stress once they set foot and paw inside the penthouse and she doesn't want to risk accidentally hurting him while she rearranges everything. She is happy to see the truck from City Pets beat her to her building and they're waiting by the unloading area in the back. Then again, the small fortune she spent there means they should move heaven and earth to meet her and Pepé's needs. After everything is moved to her penthouse, she dismisses her driver until Monday morning. She'll use her personal car instead.

As Lena moves (more like pushes and drags, so she hopes she doesn't throw her back or damage the granite flooring) her furniture around to accommodate for the giant cat tree, which City Pets had billed as the next generation cat gym, guaranteed to keep cats from scratching furniture (at least the custom made thing blends well enough with the rest of her home's decor and it looks like a bookcase inspired by abstract art); she can't help but wonder what Kara is up to. It's not just because Kara would make this rearranging of furniture a hell of a lot easier, but because she honest to god misses her best friend. Maybe she was a bit too hasty in dismissing everyone from her driver to the delivery people from City Pets, but the idea of having strangers in her home longer than necessary, has always creeped her out (and that was even before the almost regular attempts at her life). Lena knows Kara would be even more excited about her new addition than she is herself. And as much as she wants to fix things between them, she knows she can't force her presence on Kara. Not when simply seeing her is a reminder why her boyfriend is no longer around. Even if Kara has been denying things are weird, the constant crinkle in her brow along with the extended, uncomfortable silences between them, are proof enough that Kara is no longer at ease around her. She wonders if things would be different if they (read: Lena) had found a different way to stop the Daxamites. Lena's darker side wonders if Kara acting so strange is only because her boyfriend was banished along with the rest of the invaders, or if Kara actually blames Lena for the invasion since she was the one who helped Rhea make those transmatter portals. Does Kara think she's just like Lillian and Lex? Is that why Kara seems so uncomfortable around her ever since she modified Lex's dispersal device? Does Kara think that the moment Lena found out she was betrayed and used, that she went crazy and used trying to stop an invasion as an excuse to act on her family's xenophobic views?

Lena knows now and back then that realistically, a long, drawn out war wasn't in the cards. Not if they wanted to win. Once the Daxamites realized their weakness for lead bullets, they made sure all their soldiers were equipped with body armour that was a lot better than the ones used on Earth. And even if those next-generation bullets Project Cadmus (before it went rogue openly), DARPA and the U.S. military developed were used to pierce their armour, they would have been useless against their seemingly invulnerable skin. They didn't have the time needed to modify those bullets to add enough lead, still be effective at piercing the alien armour, and produce enough for them to be effective in a very short amount of time. The safety and well-being of an entire planet had meant doing something drastic. That meant exploiting their only weakness, and the most effective way was to disperse lead into the atmosphere at just the right concentration and the right type of compound.

While elemental lead was best since it was pure, there was no guarantee as to what it would react with once it settled on Earth's surface, so it was deemed better to make it into the "safest" compound with the slowest rate of absorption. They had to find a way to make it as innocuous to humans as possible, but still deadly to Daxamites. It had taken working alongside Lillian, with her MD and biochemistry background, to come up with a lead compound that met those conditions. Heaven knows that was something she never thought she'd do willingly. The only way Lena has been able to live with herself and her decisions has been the fact that she knew most of the Daxamites would have a way to leave Earth the moment the air became toxic to them. She knew their death toll wasn't going to be astronomical (no pun intended). Still, part of her wonders if the fact that Monel was Rhea's son led to Lena not fully trusting him. She wonders if that is one of the reasons she feels so damn guilty every time she sees her best friend. Because that is another thing she has kept to herself. That for some unexplained reason she just didn't trust Kara's boyfriend; something that got cemented the moment she realized who his mother was. Part of her always wondered if there was any possibility he would turn on them and that is why unconsciously she may have figured out the only solution was to banish all of them. The irony being that Lena knows better than to judge someone by whom they are related to. God knows she is sick of everyone thinking it's only a matter of time before she'll show her true colours and pull a Lex or a Lillian without warning. Part of her wonders if she's capable. At times, even Lena herself wonders when she'll crack, because with the pressure to turn the company around and maximize profits, the temptation has been there to turn a blind eye to the less than scrupulous projects some of her research teams have suggested. She forces herself to stop dwelling on the past and focus on the present and the future.

Lena puts up gates to keep the living room area isolated from the rest of the penthouse in the hopes it'll make adjusting to the new environment a little easier for Pepé once she's back to work. He'll have full access to the penthouse while she's home though. Once she is satisfied he won't be able to squeeze through (since he's still too young to jump over) and hopefully it'll be a while before he learns to climb over them, she looks around the living room area and tries to decide where it's best to put one of the two self-cleaning cat-litter boxes she has (she hopes that keeping Pepé's main areas limited to the living room while he's alone and at night in her bedroom and the hallway leading to it, will help him learn to use and get used to the litter boxes faster). The other one will in the hallway leading to her bedroom, where Pepé will sleep. Hopefully by the time she goes back to work on Monday, Pepé's natural instinct for a clean environment means he will have learned to use them. She'll remove the gates once she is sure Pepé has acclimatized to his new home and has no problem using both litter boxes.

As she goes through everything on her checklist, she realizes that a lot of things can be overlooked because most people wouldn't even think that some non-toxic plants and/or medications to humans could be lethal to cats. In a way she is glad she has never been great at keeping houseplants alive. Who knew something as helpful to humans and as innocuous as aloe vera is toxic to cats and dogs. The most tedious thing by far is covering all electrical cords with a protective sleeve to prevent Pepé from chewing on them. Then to make doubly sure, she puts the cords under cords management covers to they're all neat, not visually enticing to a kitten, and not dangling around. She debates on where to put Pepé's food dish and eventually settles for the kitchen because she doesn't want cat food remnants in her living room staining her furniture. She'll put a second water dish near the big cat gym only when she isn't home and until she can get rid of the gates (she puts in a second, smaller cat gym inside her bedroom hoping that will discourage Pepé from scratching the furniture there). By the time she finishes, Lena realizes it's basically time for lunch. No wonder her stomach is growling. All she had to eat since she woke up were an energy gel and a protein bar. It's a good think she called to give the emergency vet clinic a heads up. She makes a quick sweep over her now (hopefully) cat-proof/safe apartment and is glad that she hasn't forgotten anything. She looks at the cat gym and she is glad she did her research and found out the custom made piece (which even has a custom made scratching area), and hopes it'll be enough to deter Pepé from ruining her regular furniture and her walls.

Lena grabs her phone from the table by the door and scrolls through the list of restaurants she has on her contacts list. She can't help the pang of sadness that hits her when she sees that most of them are now places she frequents with Kara. She chooses one of the fancier, more upscale places Kara isn't fond of. Kara's logic being that it's silly to pay double or even triple and barely get enough for one person (well, one with superhuman metabolism). Such places don't hold as many memories. Lena smiles sadly to herself because a few years back, before the move from Metropolis, the thought of being nostalgic over food or even avoiding certain restaurants, was preposterous. After speaking directly to the manager (the establishment she chooses doesn't ordinarily do takeout), she places an order for pick up with very specific instructions. She can barely contain her excitement as she rides the elevator to the garage. Even if she has to replace all her furniture and remodel/fix her apartment's walls, she is positive she is doing the right thing with adopting little Pepé. Hopefully it won't come to that.

Kara debates if it's better to show up with lunch or to head out to one of their favourite places. With the temporary restraining order in place, technically speaking, they wouldn't have to worry about nosy reporters but the same can't be said about the other patrons, the staff, or even the less scrupulous "journalists" using other, less than legal means to eavesdrop on their conversation. But, now that she is aware of her own feelings, would Kara be able to prevent those long, uncomfortable silences? If she shows up with lunch, would they be able to sit alone with no interruptions between them and not end up in a worse place than they are now? Would Kara be able to explain herself and begin their healing process? In the end, she decides lunch in a restaurant would be less awkward for a first step. Or at least she hopes so. This is one thing she wants to do carefully. One, she doesn't want to blindside Lena by suddenly forcing both of them to spend time alone when for months, they haven't been able to so. It would be kind of strange to suddenly act as if nothing had happened, even if that is how most of her conflicts with Alex and her friends have been resolved. She is tired of just sweeping everything under a rug because she has noticed that there is a lot of resentment built up from that. Two, she is afraid that in the privacy of Lena's office, she would just blurt things out without first gauging to see if they're ready for such a talk. A public setting this time wouldn't be so bad because now, she can use it to her advantage if and when things get to that uncomfortable level. She can update Lena of her comings and goings for the past couple of months and also ask Lena what she has been up to, without it being just an excuse. Since it has been so long since they have really exchanged more than a couple of stilted sentences, they really would be catching up. She can then slowly try to move things to more personal topics and see what Lena's reaction would be. If she notices that Lena would rather keep things impersonal, at least the setting would make it easier for them to stop talking about the deeper subjects her best friend may not be ready for.

With her mind made up, Kara picks up her pace. She releases a long breath as she rounds the corner leading to LCorp's main doors. She wonders if she still has that unrestricted access, or if her idiotic behaviour has caused Lena to take it away (and if she did, Kara wouldn't blame her one bit), since now they're behaving like they barely know each other. She is angry and disappointed with herself when she thinks about how things have changed. Just a few months ago; they were so close they could basically finish each other's sentences. Hell, if she were completely honest with herself, she has always been more in tune with Lena than she ever has with anyone else. At one point, she would have included Alex in that list, but after all the lies and secrets, she realized that things had been so one-sided she barely knows her sister (that's another relationship that is in serious need of fixing). Now, she and Lena can barely stay in the same room without hoping for a text message or a phone call to interrupt them.

Kara pushes through the closest set of revolving doors without any issues. At least the security guards posted outside haven't been instructed to stop her on sight (one of her many irrational fears as of late). She is slightly taken aback by what she sees. In the span of four months, LCorp went through a major overhaul. Instead of just the security desk where people would sign in and out before heading to the elevator banks; now there is a solid glass wall (which Kara imagines is bulletproof) with two full body scanners that she is sure uses Advance Imaging Technology. There is also a device to scan purses, briefcases and the like. Kara nearly sighs with relief that she gave in to Cisco's suggestion and now carries her super suit in a secret, especially made compartment in her purse because there is no way she would have been able to keep her identity a secret if she had to be scanned by those machines. She only hopes that whatever Cisco had made that hidden pocket in her purse would stay undetected through the scanners.

Kara remembers Lena telling her that the new LCorp lobby would have only one point of entry to the bank of elevators and everyone would have to go through a state of the art metal detectors and scanners that would rival if not surpass any of the major airports around the world. Surprisingly enough, the changes to the lobby don't make the building seem unwelcoming. If anything, it gives the place an extra sense of security, which she guesses is good, considering what the entire planet has gone through recently.

Kara makes a beeline to the security desk with a smile plastered in her face. She doesn't recognize any of the guards behind the desk. "Hi. I'm here to see Ms. Luthor. Uh, I don't have an appointment though." She says once she gets one of the guards' attention.

"May we see some identification please?" The man asks.

"Of course." Kara says.

Kara feels a bit dishonest when she pulls out her driver's license, but makes sure her media pass is well hidden inside her purse. The last thing she wants is to have security escort her out thinking she is there to snag the coveted interview with Lena, when the sole purpose of this visit is a personal one. Work is the last thing on her mind. She does her best to stay calm as the man types what she presumes are her name and such on a log. She silently thanks Rao and any and all Earth deities when the security guard smiles at her as he waves her through one of the two full-body scanners after instructing her to put her purse through the other machine.

Kara puts her purse on the moving belt and then looks at both scanners as she walks slowly toward one of them. She notices that unlike what she has seen at both airports in National City and Metropolis, the ones at LCorp's lobby are bulkier. She wonders about their capabilities because these, more than likely were designed and produced by LCorp since Lena said security would be state of the art. She knows that Lena doesn't trust anyone other than Kara and Lena herself when it comes to safety so she knows the scanners are not to be taken for granted. Her mind quickly wanders to the worst case scenario. As far as she knows, there isn't a Lena Luthor equivalent in Earth-1 either, so maybe Cisco's tech doesn't compare to LCorp's under Lena's guidance. Not only that; maybe these do more than just scan for explosives and weapons. She wishes she could have used her x-ray vision to scan the alien detecting prototype in Lena's office during that first interview, but she barely had time to fry it. Now, even if she could surreptitiously scan this one, she wouldn't know what to look for. It's not as if she has a clue what the full-body scanners in airports look like from the inside, so she wouldn't be able to compare their differences. That's not something she ever thought she'd need to know. It's now or never. If she takes any longer than what is considered normal, the security guards will suspect she is up to something. With what she hopes is a surreptitious deep breath, she steps into the scanner.

Kara has a small panic attack, wondering if it'll give away her origin (they still disagree on the whole alien detection device, though she's very grateful Lena hasn't gone ahead with mass producing it). Kara holds her breath as she slowly walks into it and is told to stay still while the machine does its job. After what feels like an eternity, but it's more like half a minute in reality (from what she's told), she nearly collapses (it's only her super strength that is preventing that) with relief when a green light and a quick ding go off (probably indicating she poses no threat). One of the guards returns her purse and then informs her that she needs to take the elevator on the far end as that is the only one that will reach the CEO's floor. The other guard calls to let one of Lena's assistants know Kara's on her way up. Then they go back to routinely checking camera feeds before they jot down a few notes on the log book and type a few entries on a keyboard. At least they're just as relaxed as they were when she first arrived (their heart rates are the same). She is sure that they would have reacted differently if they had found out she's an alien or if they had suspected she was hiding anything in her purse. That stupid failed Daxamite invasion didn't help with the anti-alien sentiments one bit. As expected, it only made things worse for the aliens living peacefully on Earth.

As Kara rides the elevator up to the executive floors, she can barely keep her paranoia in check. Part of her wonders if secret data isn't being sent to some centralized server (that may or may not be shared with the government) with all the information on who is and who isn't an alien. The fear has nothing to do with Lena knowing. After all, when she finally came clean, they managed to work through the reasons why she had kept her origins and her alter ego a secret. But with more good quality photos of Supergirl floating around, along with the knowledge that Kara Danvers is some sort of alien, it'd only be a matter of time before someone else figured out Supergirl's real identity. Not to mention that it would be found out she has been living as an American citizen under false pretences. Yes, she is a refugee from a planet that no longer exists, but she never legally went through the process of getting asylum. And again, after Rhea's idiotic attempt to take over Earth, can Kara really blame Lena and the majority of Earth's population for wanting to know who amongst them is human and who isn't? After all, most, if not all the alien/human encounters humans have been aware of have all gone in favour of the aliens in terms of power imbalances, to the point that the American government made a new organization just to deal with alien threats. Still, understanding why some would feel that way doesn't mean Kara agrees. Forcing someone to reveal themselves when they're not ready isn't fair. Anyone admitting such a personal secret should do so by choice and not forced to because of some device used to assuage the fears and prejudices some may feel. After all, not all aliens living on Earth have special powers. Some are actually weaker than humans and many just want to be left alone so they can rebuild their lives. The majority of the aliens on Earth aren't fugitives from the law, but beings escaping a life of prejudices in their home planets. If it weren't for power crazy lunatics like Zod, Non, her Aunt Astra, Rhea and other aliens wreaking havoc on Earth, perhaps President Marsdin's bill that allows aliens to legally immigrate to America wouldn't be opposed by so many.

Kara pushes all negative thoughts away as the elevator dings its arrival at the top executive floor, where Lena's office is situated. She nearly has the elevator's doors close on her before she can step out fully; she is so taken aback by the changes here as well. She plasters what she hopes is one of her usual "Sunny Danvers" smiles on her face and walks as confidently as she can towards what seems like a reception area where Lena's second assistant, Hector, is working. She sees that since the overhaul, the area seems smaller and completely open. In this area, there are no places anyone can hide. Even the desk where Hector is busy typing away is impossible to use as a hiding space, since it's made of glass. She suspects things like filing cabinets and other storage furniture are passed the set of doors in a separate area. Jess's desk is nowhere to be found, so she imagines it's because there is now a separate area for it. Perhaps a new cubicle style or maybe it's like an outer office that leads to Lena's that's situated past the set of double doors just to Hector's left (but unlike CatCo's layout, these doors aren't made of glass). She is tempted to lower her glasses and scan the floor, but somehow manages to contain her curiosity. It's her own fault she has no idea what changes were made during the reconstruction of the LCorp tower. She trusts Lena and if she wants to know the extent of the changes to the top floor and the reasons behind them, then she'll ask Lena for a tour. She won't betray Lena's trust that way, because in her eyes, that accounts to what Winn had done when he tried to hack Lena and LCorp's servers.

She resists the urge to sigh when she realizes Hector hasn't noticed her arrival. She wonders if she should talk to Lena about it. Shouldn't he be expecting her already? She remembers hearing the security guards informing either, or even both of them of her arrival. The elevator ride was very fast, so there is no possible way anyone would forget there is a visitor on the way up. And even if he were such a chowder head, at the very least, wouldn't the ding of the elevator alert him? Kara's crinkle makes its appearance when Hector doesn't look away from his computer monitor the closer she gets to his desk (and it's not like there is that much distance to cover from the only elevator to Hector's work space). She sometimes wonders if she should start wearing high heels just so her footfalls would alert people she's approaching and she doesn't have to figure out a way to gain their attention that doesn't involve her clearing her throat and then trying to greet them without stuttering first. She hates being the one to break the silence in such situations.

"Uh, hi, umm, Hector. Good afternoon." Kara says after a quick glance at the large clock on the wall behind his desk tells her it's definitely past noon.

Hector looks up from his work and smiles at Kara but doesn't say anything. He only waves her through the double doors to what she presumes is the outer area of Lena's office, where Jess should be.

So far, so good. The lack of Hector's surprise at least means that he was notified of her arrival. Plus, if he hasn't stopped her, then it's further confirmation her unrestricted access should still be there. The smile in her face is a bit more genuine and a bit less forced.

Jess looks up from her monitor and immediately scrunches her eyebrows together in worry the moment one of the double doors swings open and she sees who is walking through it. She was sure Hector had misunderstood security when they informed him that Ms. Danvers was on her way up. She actually thought they had meant Agent Danvers and with her workload basically tripling, she hasn't had a chance to explain to every security guard that Agent Danvers and Ms. Danvers are two separate people. After the DEO officially became a known government organization, Agent Alex Danvers (whom she eventually learned is Ms. Danvers's sister, so wouldn't Hector know that as well. It's not as if the two siblings look even a little alike that they could be mistaken for each other) has been showing up from time to time during the renovations to ensure everything is all right, especially after the last couple of attempts on the CEO's life. Though Ms. Luthor and Jess both think it's a way for the DEO to keep tabs on the last free Luthor (Lillian Luthor doesn't count because she is on probation after her lawyers managed to blame PTSD from Lex's actions and his life-long incarceration and Corbin "kidnapping" her); to make sure LCorp and her boss aren't doing anything illegal. In fact, Jess has been ready to happily inform Agent Danvers and her organization that from now on they can't just waltz in as if they own the company. That they need to kindly make an appointment to talk to Ms. Luthor and not just drop in unannounced in the foreseeable future since anything happening within LCorp doesn't fall within the DEO's jurisdiction. Then, she was going to remind security that the unrestricted access to LCorp was only given to Kara Danvers, cub reporter for CatCo Worldwide Media and not Alexandra Danvers, DEO agent.

Kara sees Jess's reaction and her steps falter slightly. Maybe things aren't the same after all and her access has been revoked and Jess is worried she'll just speed past her like before. "Umm, hey Jess." She says after a slight hesitation.

"Ms. Danvers, is everything all right with Ms. Luthor?" Jess blurts out as she pushes her chair away from her desk and stands up abruptly. Something has to be wrong. Otherwise, Ms. Danvers wouldn't show up to LCorp by herself after Ms. Luthor had taken the rest of the week off. She tries her best to keep herself from panicking. She may be Ms. Luthor's executive assistant, but with no other close friends other than Kara Danvers in National City and no close family members who aren't power-hungry, xenophobic lunatics, Jess is very protective of her boss.

"Uh, I think so?" Kara asks more than says. "I was just going to see if she is free to join me for lunch." She adds with a bit more certainty. Why would Jess be asking her if Lena is okay. Has Lena been working through her lunches again and has gone back to those nasty meal replacement shakes now that Kara hasn't been around? The thought alone sends another round of guilt through Kara.

Jess does a double take at that. Of all the people in the city (make that the world), shouldn't Ms. Danvers know her boss isn't in the office? Hell, she thought the reporter would have known even before Jess herself did. She figured that the reporter had finally convinced her boss it would be all right to take a few days to rest because they have all been going on non-stop for months. Just what on Earth is going on here? "Ms. Danvers, Ms. Luthor isn't in LCorp. She, uh, took the rest of the week off." She finally says. She has to bite her tongue to keep the "I thought she would be with you" from slipping out after the look of total surprise on the blonde in front of her.

"I—" Kara starts to say, but shuts up abruptly. She is at a complete loss of words. Of all the different scenarios she has been running through her head. This was never one of them. "Is she okay? Did she say why she is taking the time off?" She finally asks after regaining the ability to string sentences together. Once again, Kara had been so distracted by her thoughts that she failed to do something as simple as to listen to her surroundings. Now that she is aware, the lack of Lena's heartbeat along with the combination of the sounds of the keyboard clicking on that ever present laptop and Lena's pen scratching on paper as she makes notes on reports are nearly deafening in their silence. In fact, the sound of Lena's heartbeat has been the one constant of her visits to LCorp, and at times, her constant in National City.

Ignoring the increasingly awkwardness between them, Jess takes the time to really look at Kara Danvers. It looks as if someone had dropped a bucket of ice-cold water on her she is so shocked. To say she is just as if not more surprised than Ms. Danvers would be an understatement. Jess has just assumed the lack of the reporter's presence has been part of some mutual agreement they've come to in order to keep their definitely non-professional meetings out of LCorp in order to avoid the throng of reporters always camped out waiting for a quote. Now though, she wonders what is going on. She has heard more than once her boss calling Ms. Danvers her only friend here. It seems like they have had some kind of falling out (which could be due to Ms. Danvers using their friendship to land that coveted interview every reporter in the world seems to be chasing after that stupid invasion). That would explain Ms. Luthor's moodiness as of late. But if that's the case, why hasn't her boss rescinded Ms. Danvers's unrestricted access yet? She pushes aside any speculation because the blonde has done nothing to deserve Jess thinking the worst first. If anything Ms. Danvers has always been the exception to just about everyone.

"All she said this morning was that she's taking the rest of the week off for personal reasons." Jess finally replies. She omits the part about not being disturbed unless it's an emergency. She's sure that only applies to work and work-related calls. She may think the blonde in front of her is a little unprofessional at times (read most times), but she also knows she is one of the few people who truly cares for her boss. And if Ms. Danvers's sudden look of determination is any indication, perhaps she'll find a way to get to the bottom of things. Who knows? Maybe instead of a falling out, her boss has given in to old habits of pushing people away to avoid getting hurt. Heavens knows that was one of the main reasons she fought Mr. Spheer's attempt at staying together as a couple (and as business partners) and to keep their little start-up going when Ms. Luthor was appointed the new CEO of LuthorCorp. She still remembers overhearing their arguments before her boss had broken things off between her and Mr. Spheer for good. It had taken a couple of years for the relocation of the then LuthorCorp headquarters to National City so in the mean time; Mr. Spheer had tried everything in his power to keep Ms. Luthor in Metropolis. When it was clear Ms. Luthor had no intentions because in her opinion, the company needed to distance itself from the chaos and destruction her brother had caused in his quest to destroy Superman; Jack Spheer had come up with an ultimatum; him or LuthorCorp. It had been a shock to hear the always composed Lena Luthor raising her voice the way she did in those conversations. She had basically ended things right then and there, not realizing Mr. Spheer was bluffing. Not that the sudden breakup had discouraged Mr. Spheer. The man was nothing if not persistent, even offering to go as far as to only keep their dealings as business partners only and to move their start up anywhere Ms. Luthor would eventually settle in. That had only made things worse and Ms. Luthor had launched a series of very personal verbal attacks before she banned Mr. Spheer from LuthorCorp's premises. Not that the ban was necessary; the look he had when he finally left Ms. Luthor's office was clear enough to know her boss had succeeded in making sure she would be left alone.

Shortly after that, Jess noticed Ms. Luthor focused only on turning the family's company and name around. Ms. Luthor seemed to spend every waking hour in LuthorCorp's then Metropolis's headquarters, going home only to sleep. Jess thought her boss would relax a bit once the move to the west coast was finalized, instead, her boss worked even harder. It wasn't until that disaster with the Venture and meeting with Mr. Kent and Ms. Danvers that things started to slowly change. While Ms. Luthor tried her best to keep things professional, thankfully Ms. Danvers managed to befriend her boss and helped her relax and spend time outside of the office and do more than just work. Then with the way things turned out with Biomax, Beth Breen causing the death of Jack Spheer, Ms. Luthor slowly started to revert back to the life "Before Ms. Danvers showed up". Until once again the blonde managed to get through to her stubborn boss. Maybe in another bout of self-doubt Ms. Luthor decided to "spare" Ms. Danvers of the drama of being associated with a Luthor. Now, more than ever she really hopes the lack of the reporter's presence lately has been nothing more than the two of them trying to avoid the rest of the journalists trying to get a piece from Ms. Luthor. Still, part of Jess fears that her boss has tried to do something similar with Ms. Danvers. So it is a bit of a relief to see the reporter still willing to fight for their friendship.

"Uh, thanks Jess. I, uh, think I'm going to catch her at home or something. She probably forgot to tell me because she's been working so hard lately. Or maybe she tried, but I've been so busy also I haven't been paying attention to anything other than work myself." Kara says as cheerfully as she can. She has to bite back the urge to continue rambling. "I'll, um, see you around Jess. Oh, and the new office looks really nice." She says as she starts to leave.

"Have a good day, Ms. Danvers." Jess says. She really wants to add a "will you let me know Ms. Luthor is all right?", but won't. One. It's not professional (even if she knows Ms. Danvers won't care about that). Ms. Luthor and she may have a very good working relationship, but it's nowhere even close to friendship. And two. She doesn't have that kind of loose acquaintance type of relationship with Ms. Danvers either. In all previous visits, they barely exchange two words before Ms. Danvers quickly walks inside Ms. Luthor's office. And it's not for lack of trying from the reporter's side. But once again, Jess had refused to cross that professional line. Not to mention, it felt then and still feels very odd, to become friends with your boss's best friend. It's almost like a conflict of interest, especially if she and Ms. Danvers become as close as the blonde is with her boss. But as she watches a dazed Kara Danvers leave, maybe cultivating casual friendship with the reporter won't be so bad if it means she can keep better tabs on Ms. Luthor. Besides, becoming friends doesn't necessarily mean they would be the best of friends either.

The last time Lena has felt this giddy was when she was told she would be graduating MIT summa cum laude with a double engineering bachelor's degree at the tender age of seventeen. It takes everything in her to not run from her car to the clinic. While most people wouldn't recognize her with her current wardrobe choice, it's still unbecoming and against everything she was taught. She hopes the cat carrier she has isn't too big and Pepé won't slide around inside it during the drive back home. The clerk at City Pets was sure that it was the adequate size, allowing for Pepé to grow into it without having the need to replace it for something bigger later on. On a whim, she heads to the trunk and grabs the emergency blanket she keeps there and smooshes it towards the back of the carrier, hoping it'll take up enough space that it will prevent Pepé from sliding around. Then she panics, wondering if the blanket is taking up too much space or if it'll restrict airflow within the carrier. She's an engineer, for God's sake. She should be able to tell with just a glance. After some quick calculations in her head, she is sure everything is fine. She forces herself to take a few deep breaths to calm down before she grabs the carrier and heads over to the emergency clinic's main entrance.

Including the apology for running late and the staff's dismissal of said apology, settling the bill, and putting Pepé in the carrier, they're out of the clinic in less than ten minutes. Lena hesitates for a moment as she approaches the passenger door in the front. After a few seconds, she instead heads to the rear seat.

"Sorry Pepé. I'd love to have you up front with me, but with a working airbag, I don't want to risk anything. Besides, having you facing me, I'd probably get too distracted talking to you and trying to look at you to drive safely." Lena says as she settles the pet carrier in the middle seat, facing the space above the centre console. She quickly goes through the attachments she got in order to buckle the carrier properly. She wonders if there is a way to keep her kitten safe without relegating him to the backseat.

Traffic is light so she reaches the restaurant with her food right on time. She isn't surprised to see the sous-chef already waiting for her and waving the valet parking attendant away. The entire exchange takes less than five minutes. They're pulling into her building's underground parking in next to no time.

Lena can't help the smirk in her face as she pulls to her parking spot right next to the elevator. Ah, the perks of owning the building. It will certainly make moving around with Pepé's carrier and her food a lot easier. She is grateful it's the middle of the day so she doesn't have to share the elevator with anyone else. She is tired of the resentful looks some of the other tenants give her whenever they see her use the biometric scanner put in just for her. Maybe she should move to a house, but the thought of a long commute to the office is one of the biggest deterrents. She loves that it only takes her roughly ten minutes to get from the building her penthouse is to LCorp. Depending on the location, a house would at least triple that and for now, there is no reason for that. She would also miss the amazing view she has of the city's skyline. Then of course, there is also the fact that a house would sit empty while she is a work and heaven only knows what lunatics after her would do with that. At least the building has state of the art security and guards around the clock.

"Welcome home, Pepé." Lena says once she closes the front door, sets the carrier by the couch and opens the carrier's door. She is sure she has the silliest grin ever as she looks at Pepé slowly make his way outside the carrier and slowly starts to move around the living room. She resists the urge to hover over him because she doesn't want to overwhelm him. Instead she makes her way to the kitchen to grab a set of cutlery and plates before she settles on having lunch on the coffee table. She is just about to serve herself when her phone goes off with an incoming text from Kara. She never thought she'd be hearing that customized tone go off, since over the last month and a half, any contact had been initiated by Lena. She immediately reaches for her phone while doing her best to not get her hopes up. This is the first time Kara is initiating contact in months.

For the first time since arriving on Earth, Kara finally understands what she thought has always been a silly notion: walking around robotically, without any awareness of surroundings or what is happening. But somehow, after finding out Lena taking some time off and bidding Jess goodbye, Kara has somehow made it to the sidewalk outside LCorp's main entrance. But she has no recollection of making her way out of LCorp.

Kara also realizes just how much their friendship has suffered. It shouldn't surprise her and it shouldn't sting so much that Lena chose not to say anything to her. After all, she had been doing her best in isolating herself from everything and everyone. If she's honest with herself, she knows it's didn't start with Monel's forced departure and the way she chose to deal with it. The reality was that it had started when she became serious with Monel. Thinking back, she did the same thing her sister did once she started dating Maggie. Kara's whole world was consumed by her new relationship. Just like Alex's did. Just like Winn's did when he started dating Lyra. She even saw it when James and Lucy decided to give their relationship another go. She can't help but think over the number of times she not only came up with stupid excuses in order to decline hanging out with Lena, but also the times she cancelled her plans with her best friend. At first, it was that honeymoon phase of a new romance. Then it morphed into whatever was easier, and sadly, it had always been easier to give in to Monel than it was to constantly defend her friendship with Lena and why it was important to spend time with her best friend instead of him, especially before she had revealed she is Supergirl. She thought at one point, it would have gotten easier after the Supergirl revelation, but it had only gotten worse. Kara had thought that once they didn't have to be so careful about her identity, the excuses of why Lena couldn't be invited to their get-togethers would ease off. But after her last conversation with James, she wonders if everyone else still thinks Lena is a ticking time bomb. She wonders if Alex, Winn and J'onn also blame Lena for the invasion. She hates that she has basically lost touch with Lucy, and it's not as if she can't just change into her Supergirl costume and fly to wherever Lucy is and at least hang out for a bit. All because she got lost in her new romance.

As Kara walks aimlessly, wondering what she should do next, it occurs to her that in all the time she has known Lena, the woman has never taken a day off. She has been lucky she has been able to convince the brunette to take a longer than usual lunch break (read: more than scarfing down a sandwich, a salad, or those god awful meal replacement drinks at her desk while reading reports and emails). Immediately, her imagination goes into overdrive and she starts to picture worse-case scenarios; each one worse than the other. By the time she rounds a corner, she has to stop herself from hyperventilating and to force herself to stop thinking. That's when she realizes she has walked aimlessly about three blocks and it takes her a bit to realize where she is in the city. She shoves aside the hurt she feels that Lena didn't tell her she was taking time off. She knows it's her own doing, and before her mind can start again, she decides that just because Lena isn't at her office it doesn't mean she can't go through with her plan and try to fix their friendship. It just means that they won't have the buffer of a public place. She could put it off again, but knowing Lena won't be back at LCorp until Monday, it means too long of a wait and too much time to let her mind come up with even more horrible, worst case scenarios. She decides to pick up some food, text Lena she's showing up with Lunch and pray things will work out for the best. Now all she has to do is find a place whose food Lena loves as much as Kara does when it comes to most edible things. Part of her wonders if she is being too pretentious by automatically assuming Lena would agree to see her, but if she doesn't take a chance, then there is no hope of fixing things. After all, since the failed invasion, it has always been Lena who has made the effort to get together. She shoves aside any negative thoughts and decides to hope for the best.

It doesn't even take a minute for Kara to decide to fly to New York City to pick up lunch from Katz's Delicatessen, a place Lena says she makes a point to go to every time she has business to conduct in that city. Dessert will have to be something local since the ice cream Lena loves from New York wouldn't survive the flight back to National City. Once she is back, she heads over to this dessert café Lena once took her to and picks up two pieces of their chocolate cake along with an extra-large serving of their homemade raspberry ice cream. The only thing missing is the Amaretto hot chocolate Lena loves with the dessert, and that's only because it doesn't taste the same when it's reheated. She takes a deep breath and tries as best as she can to give out an air of casualness in her text. She should call, but she knows she'll be a rambling mess the moment the call is connected. Of course, there is always the chance the call may go straight to voicemail, which she wouldn't blame Lena for rejecting her call. After typing and deleting what feels like the millionth version, she settled on _**Hey Lena. Feel like having lunch together?**_ , leaving out the fact that she had already stopped by the office or that she already picked up food for them. After some thought, Kara figured mentioning those facts or to simply invite herself to Lena's place would put her friend on the spot.

Kara waits patiently by the park near Lena's building and has to do her best to ignore the stares she is getting from people enjoying the nice day there because she has enough food to feed a small army.

Lena's hesitation over what to do after reading Kara's text is like a bucket of water thrown over an ember. A few months back, she would have just texted back and told Kara to join her for lunch at home. Now, she wonders if they are even capable of having a meal together without being surrounded by a throng of strangers. She knows this is a huge step forward because Kara is the one contacting her, so at least she's not the one forcing Kara to spend time together. But she also knows it's not that simple. The last time they attempted to hang out together it was a complete disaster. She remembers both gave a huge sigh of relief when she needed to rush back to LCorp to oversee something with the reconstruction of the building. She takes a look at Pepé and thinks he would be a fantastic icebreaker because they would automatically focus all their attention on him. Heaven knows that just looking at him explore around the living room is beyond adorable. She is about to reply with a text inviting Kara to her home (while there is not enough food, they can always get something else delivered) when her phone goes off again, sending the kitten scrambling to hide back inside the pet carrier.

One look at Pepé huddled inside his carrier and Lena has no idea what to do. Would an extra person hovering over him (because she's sure Kara wouldn't be able to just let him be without wanting to cuddle and pet him, especially after she finds out how Lena came upon him) be a setback in his acclimatization to his new home? She could call the emergency vet or do a quick search online, but that would mean waiting to reply to Kara and she doesn't want the blonde to think she's being ignored; not when this text is such a huge step forward in the their now slightly fractured friendship. One last look at the trembling kitten makes up her mind. She says some sweet nothings to Pepé as she reaches for the phone and fires a reply to Kara.

 _ **Hey back. I wish I could, but I have an expected guest I'm entertaining and won't be able to. I'll text you when I'm free though.**_

"Oh, Pepé, I hope you know what I may be sacrificing for you right now." Lena says softly as she puts her phone down and gets up to put her food away. She'll give Pepé a day or two to get used to her home and then she'll contact Kara and hope the blonde will accept the invitation and not come up with yet another excuse. Lunch is now the last thing in her mind.

It feels like a lifetime before her phone goes with Lena's familiar tone. Her smile dies the moment she reads Lena's reply. That again, wasn't what she expected. Of all the reasons she came up with in her mind (each one more ridiculous, absurd or morbid than the one before), a guest never entered her mind. The only other close friend Lena has that Kara is aware of, has a daughter that is school aged, and said daughter should have started school already. Last time she checked, no matter where in the continental United States someone lived, by mid-September, the scholastic year has already started full swing. She wracks her brain trying to think of anyone else who Lena feels close enough to actually take time off from work in order to "entertain" them and can't think of anyone. Then a dark thought crosses her mind. What if during her self-imposed absence Lena found a new best friend and she has slowly been replaced by this newcomer? The thought is enough to make Kara lose her appetite, something she never thought was possible unless she blew her powers and got sick in the process. Without an actual invitation to join them, Kara knows she can't just show up. Sure, Lena would never throw her out, but they're not in a place in their friendship (at least not anymore) where she can just invite herself over and hang out. She knows her presence now would only be another step backwards in their friendship. She'll just have to wait and hope that Lena will be willing to give her a chance. She quickly fires another text.

 _ **Yeah, sure. NP. TTYL.**_

With a defeated sigh, she grabs the bags of food and heads back to CatCo, knowing there is no way she can take the day off without getting in trouble with Snapper. At least she'll have enough food to keep her occupied for the rest of the day and she won't have to leave her office. She is eternally grateful she decided to text and not call because there is no way she would have been able to sound casual with this rejection. Sadly, the darker side of her yells at her 'what were you expecting, an engraved invitation after you've treated her like crap all these months?' Pushing those thoughts aside, she won't have much of a choice but to at least write the part of the article involving Supergirl. Hopefully work will keep her from jumping to even worse conclusions.

TBC.


End file.
